City of Derry Rugby Club travelled to Dublin on Saturday last to play Seapoint who were sitting a point behind them in the league in third position in what promised to be the game of the day in All Ireland League Division 3. Derry came away with a narrow loss with the game living up to all expectation that produced a titanic struggle of commitment and rugby of the highest quality despite the strong arctic wind sweeping in from the Glen of the Downs. The result sees Seapoint on top of the league two points ahead of Derry and Instonians who had their fixture postponed.
The weather throughout City of Derry’s journey to Dublin on Saturday morning belied the possibility of a game being played but just outside the capital the fields turned from white to green and it was not going to be a wasted journey. The Kilbogget Park grounds were in good condition come game time but with the strength of the very cold wind blowing straight across the pitch it was not going be a great advantage to either team. It was anticipated that considering the conditions the handling was going to be difficult but the two teams adapted well and the skill levels were high.
The early pressure came from the visitors with good driving play form backs and forwards carrying the game to Seapoint. The Derry back row of Richard Baird, Tom Patton and Stephen Ferguson were carrying ball at every opportunity and the tackle count was high form Seapoint. The intensity from both teams showed how much they wanted the result with the physicality that was being brought to the game. Andrew Semple was having an outstanding game for Derry pulling the strings as Derry pressed forward with wave after wave of attack; Semple was bringing the power of Bob McKillop, Sam McAuley, David Witherow, Chris Cooper and Sam Duffy to the game as each player presented themselves hungry for work.
The game was all about power play form Derry as the first half progressed and Seapoint struggled to get out of their half. Stephen Walsh the Seapoint wing forward was penalised on twenty minutes for killing the ball and Richard Peoples slotted over an excellent penalty from thirty five meters considering the conditions to give Derry a 3pts to nil advantage. The Derry forwards continued to dominate, it was difficult to move the ball far from the breakdown but when Derry got the ball out to the wide channels they looked to pose more danger that the opposition. Ryan Campbell and David Funston worked an opening for full back Peter Henderson following good work by William McCleery on thirty minutes. Henderson chipped the ball cleverly behind the defence but could not get the touchdown before the ball narrowly went dead.
The first half finished with a flurry of action as constant pressure from Derry told in the thirty eight minute when Richard Peoples and Simon Logue combined to get in behind the Seapoint defence and when they were caught offside Peoples obliged with another penalty for a six point lead for Derry. Seapoint kicked off and won possession and for the first time in the game got inside the Derry 22 meter line. They won four phases in a row and when David Witherow picked the ball in a ruck facing his own goal 15 meters out which he looked entitled to do so, the referee gave a penalty and a yellow card and on the stroke of half time Seapoint out half Keegan kicked a penalty as Witherow departed from the fray for ten minutes with the score 6pts to 3pts for Derry at the break.
The wind come the second half seemed to slightly favour Seapoint, but even though being a man down Derry dominated possession and territory and they probed for another score. Derry made their first replacement on ten minutes as Witherow returned from the bin, Tom Patton who had a great game but felt sick before the game was replaced by David Houston. Derry were on the attack with 20 minutes gone but gave away a penalty inside the Seapoint half, the referee marched Derry back ten meters after mistakenly interpreting a Seapoint comment as coming from a Derry player. Keegan converted the penalty from the half way line to level the scores at 6pts all.
Derry pressed for that elusive score that would give them victory and again had the lion’s share of possession and territorial advantage. Simon Logue and Richard Peoples were having terrific games and were at the heart of everything as Derry continued to press. Derry were on their twelfth phase of play inside the Seapoint 22 meter line on thirty minutes when they spilled ball in the tackle. Keegan was happy to boot the ball as far down the field as possible to relieve the relentless Derry pressure. Derry kicked for touch and Seapoint won possession and drove forward and from 25 meters Keegan done as he always does, he dropped a goal to give Seapoint a 9pts to 6pts lead against the run of play.
Derry now threw everything at Seapoint and they produced rugby of the highest quality and commitment, they probed for an opening from one side of the field to the other. Semple, Funston and Logue created a splendid chance for Henderson with five minutes remaining and as he sprinted in to score in the corner he was deprived by a hand trip from nowhere as the ball went into touch. Derry continued to mount the pressure and were awarded two penalties which they declined because of the wind which would have been kickable in normal conditions.
Seapoint were out on their feet at the number of tackles made as Derry came forward with injury time approaching. Richard Baird, David Houston Bob McKillop along with Sam Duffy and David Witherow where throwing their bodies into the battle to break the Seapoint resistance. The referee signalled a penalty in front of the posts 25 meters out in injury time to Derry but McAuley and his men were going for the jugular, Baird drove forward to a foot from the line under the posts, the ball was trapped in his arms in the tackle. The referee blew for a penalty to Seapoint to everyone’s amazement including the referee’s assessor and as the ball was kicked to touch the final whistle blew.
The Derry Coach Bevan Lynch said after the game “were are all disappointed, players, coaches and supporters. We had over eighty percent possession and territory and played positive rugby all day. How we came away with a twenty four to nine penalty count against us is beyond me. That was probably our best team performance of the season and everyone and I mean everyone gave their all and left nothing in the locker room. We are all so proud of them and our next two games in the AIL are at home and I know were are going to put a numbers of teams to the sword before the end of the season if we continue to play to that level of performance”
City of Derry Team V Seapoint David Witherow, Sam McAuley, Sam Duffy, Chris Cooper, Bob McKillop, Richard Baird, Tom Patton, Strephen Ferguson, Andrew Semple, Richard Peoples, William McCleery, David Funston, Ryan Campbell, Simon Logue, Peter Henderson. Replacements: Stephen Duffy, David Houston, Robin Craig, Stuart Thompson, Josh Lewis.
