City of Derry Rugby Club had the ideal preparation for their Ulster Senior Cup Final on Thursday when they defeated a lively Queens outfit at Judges Road on Saturday last. The inclement weather meant that Derry were without a game for the last two weeks and going to Ravenhill to play Dungannon in a repeat of their famous Cup victory in the season 1999-2000 would have been a difficult assignment without last Saturday’s game. This Ulster Rugby Senior League success keeps Derry in second place in the league still unbeaten behind leaders Ballynahinch.
Derry had an indifferent start to the game and their rustiness was there for all to see in the early stages as they had possession overturned which Queens capitalised on as they were afforded the opportunity to put points on the scoreboard. Ritchie McMaster kicked and early penalty for the home side after a Queens infringement for a three point lead. There were less than ten minutes gone when a Derry mistake turned over possession in the opposition half, Queens moved play quickly and their full-back Chris Quinn found a gap in Derry’s defence and showed a clean pair of heels to sprint over 60 meters to score a try which he converted himself to give his team a 7pts to 3pts lead.
Queens were back on the attack again ten minutes later when a penalty allowed them to kick for touch in the corner. The students won possession and out half James Reekie created the opening for centre Stuart McIlwaine to score a try which Quinn converted for a 14pts to 3pts lead with less than twenty minutes gone. Derry finally controlled possession on thirty minutes when No 8 Stephen Ferguson who as having an outstanding game made good ground while fending off several tacklers before offloading to Stephen Simms who drove over for a try which was converted by McMaster to reduce the arrears to 14pts to 10pts.
Queens were back on the scoreboard five minutes before the break as a result of a lucky break. The ball was overthrown in a lineout and it bounced kindly for scrum half Conor Spence who evaded Derry tacklers before touching down for a try which Quinn converted to give Queens a 21pts to 10pts half time lead.
Derry were rocked immediately after the restart when Queens winger McAuley got in for an unconverted try to give his team a sixteen point lead. Derry suddenly took their game to another level with the introduction of Richard Peoples to out half and Richard Baird to the back row. The pressure from the home side was upped several notches and Richard Baird touched down for a push over try, Richard Peoples converted to reduce the arrears to 26pts to 17pts. Further pressure from Derry and an infringement from Queens allowed Peoples to kick a penalty to reduce the deficit to six points.
Derry were now firing on all cylinders and confidence was high, Tom Patton was putting in a Man of the Match performance in the pack and the home side were dominating possession. Derry were within a point of Queens on sixty minutes Andrew Semple was back to his best and made a good break that took play inside the Queens 22. The student’s loose kick to relieve pressure was pounced upon by Derry winger William McCleery who made good ground before quick ruck ball saw Stephen Ferguson crown a great personal performance with an unconverted try.
Stephen Ferguson and Chris Quinn were sin binned on sixty five minutes after a crowd scene fracas as the game came to the boil. Further pressure from Derry saw Queens go offside again on seventy minutes and Peoples kick a great penalty to give his team the lead by 28tts to 26pts which turned out to be the final score despite a late penalty miss by Queens as the game ebbed away.
City of Derry Team: Chris Shields, Sam McAuley, Sam Duffy, Philip Brady, Tom Patton, Stephen Corr, Stephen Sims, Stephen Ferguson, Andrew Semple, Ritchie McMaster, William McCleery, Ryan Campbell, David Funston, Simon Logue, Peter Henderson. Replacements: David Witherow, Stephen Duffy, Richard Baird, Richard Peoples, Stuart Thompson.
