In perfect playing conditions Ophir kicked off against a young City of Derry 2nd XV. David Smyth playing at out half showed his considerable kicking skills so prominent all afternoon when he kicked City of Derry to within 10 metres of the Ophir line. Derry then dominated and Adam McDuff drove for the line and was unfortunate not to score, the referee judging that the ball was held up over the try line. Ophir then cleared their lines from a penalty. Derry dominated the scrums and put tremendous pressure on Ophir. It was, however, 10 minutes before Derry were able to turn their dominance into a score when no.8 David McClintock drove over.
David Smyth converted to leave the score 7 -0.
Derry now started to dominate the lineouts and scrums giving them most of the possession but spoiling their advantage by giving away a series of penalties, which allowed Ophir to clear their line. It was another 25 minutes before good forward play led to the ball being eventually fed out wide for full back David Murdock coming into the line to make a strong run. The ball was fed to David Smyth who placed an inch perfect kick to Steven Brennan who collected and scored under the posts. David Smyth converted. Soon after the kick off Derry forwards drove effectively with Adam McDuff eventually running through the Ophir defence to touch down near the posts. David Smyth converted to make the score at half time 21 –0.
The City of Derry forwards were now totally dominant in the scrums with the front row of Chris Shields, Cathal Cregan and Simon Cairns showing their experience against a very young Ophir front row. The Derry backs meanwhile were well organised and working well together. City of Derry increased their dominance and almost all the play was in the Ophir half. The ball was fed out after some impressive forward driving with loose head prop Chris Shields on hand to score out wide.
Soon after the kick off Cillian Doherty secured the ball at an Ophir line out and drove 50 meters up field to feed the Derry centre to score. At this stage the City of Derry no. 8, David McClintock went off with a suspected broken ankle and with no subs allowed Derry was down to 14 men. They still, however, dominated the scrums and after reversing an Ophir scrum were able to feed the ball from Duffy to Cregan, to Hamill and back to Duffy to score out wide. Ophir responded and for a period dominated with some good forward drives. Eventually centre Neil Gray went over for an Ophir try. Derry came back well and good forward driving runs saw the ball fed out to Nick Donnell, to Cathal Cregan and then to prop Chris Shields for his second try of the afternoon. Philip Duffy converted to leave the final score 43 – 5 to Derry.
City of Derry was well led by Captain Cathal Cregan. The Derry forwards dominated the loose play and always controlled the set scrums. The lineouts were well organised and the jumping excellent. The Derry backs were well organised and their variations of play were impressive to watch. Ophir battled well to the end but the fitness and strength of the Derry gave them the edge. The Derry coach, Sean O’Kane said after the match that he was delighted with the performance of his young side that played with great commitment.
Report by Andrew M McCartney
