After almost 9 weeks of inactivity due to bad weather and a lack of opposition Derry entertained Ballynahinch at Judges Road in the League Semi Final. The weeks of no game time were to show as the home side were a bit rusty and went down by 33 points to 15 against one of the top two U19 sides in the province.
In perfect conditions for running rugby the game kicked off with Derry playing towards the scoreboard end and it was not long before the pattern of the game was evident! An enormous visiting pack were hammering the home forwards at every opportunity, the Derry eight however were not going to be bullied and responded well and indeed held their own in many of the exchanges. It was the home side who were first on the scoresheet when a long kick was fielded well by fullback Jamie Devine who returned it with power and pace and when eventually was tackled 5 meters out was able to offload to supporting winger Niall O’Kane to score a good try out wide, the difficult conversion was missed. From the drop out the ‘Hinch forwards again went on the rampage and were asking a lot of questions of the Derry defence but they were repelled and indeed turned over. The Derry side were awarded a scrum which they won and decided to run out of defence only for the ball to be dropped by the Derry backline where it was gratefully picked up by the opposition centre and ran in from 15m out! The conversion from in front of the post was good and the visitors were in the lead 7 points to 5 with 10 mins gone. The fire and fight did not go out of the Derry youngsters and they defended manfully against their much bigger opposition forwards and the back line were always dangerous when they got the ball, the pace of the back three was causing problems in attack. Another period of good continuity play led to a series of rucks inside the ‘Hinch 22m and from one of these scrumhalf Johnny Kennedy made one of his trademark darts and got over for the score. The conversion was missed but the home side were back in the lead at 10 points to 7 with 29mins of the half gone. After a period of pressure inside the Derry 22, the visitors spilled the ball and Derry were awarded the scrum, the scrum was rushed and the visitors managed to win this against the head where their No8 picked up and powered over from close range next to the posts. Again the kick was good and the visitors regained the lead 14 to 10. this was to be the last action of the half.
The second half got under way and it was not long until the tiring bodies of the home side were to be stretched too far and a try was scored by the ‘Hinch winger. Good work in the ruck and strong powerful mauling led to the visitors retaining a vast amount of possession and putting the Derry team under huge pressure. The visitors scored three tries in the second half on 7mins, 12mins and finally on 20 mins with the first two being converted leaving them with a final score of 33 points. The Derry boys to their credit never lay down and gave their all and were to be rewarded when after a great break by Conall Doherty brought play to inside the ‘Hinch 22 and from a series of rucks Ben Porter powered over to bring the home sides total to 15 points. The final score does not really reflect the part the home side played in the game, if a few more tackles were completed then it could have been a different scoreline. The visitors were by far the best team this Derry side have come up against this season so far and deserved their victory on the day. The long period of inactivity and injury to important members of the squad meant that the team were not battle ready and this showed a bit in their match fitness. The heads should not go down however as this was a good spirited and gutsy performance and in the first half especially they more than took the game to their illustrious opponents.
A few mention must go out and first is to hooker Rory Gallagher playing in place of the injured Mark Boyd, this was his first game of the season and after only one practice session fitted in well to the pack. Another is the ever versatile David Devine who started at wing forward in place of Porter who was unable to start due to work commitments, he also put in a good showing and put himself where angels fear to tread. Finally young Jamie Devine, normally a winger, playing at full back and who still qualifies for the U17’s was outstanding and deservedly wins the man of the Match award. His display of fielding, side stepping, pace and tackling were a joy to behold and only for a bit more luck he could have been on the scoresheet a few times.
Next week there is a chance for this team to get some retribution as they travel away to play the home side in the qualifying round of the U19 Cup, another good performance after a hard weeks training and who knows what could happen!
