Andrew McCartney
Six games into the season City of Derry 3rd XV and Carrickfergus 3rd XV sat top of Section 4 of the Ulster Junior League. Both teams were looking forward to this top of the league clash on Saturday last at Judges Road and the expectation that it was a must win encounter. Paddy Owens and his men came out on top with a sparkling second half performance that produced three try’s on the back of spirited display.
Despite heavy rain overnight and all morning the pitch was in excellent condition and the wind and rain subsided for the entire match. Carrickfergus started well as their forwards drove well in the loose and looked like being the more dominant pack. Both teams played hard enthusiastic rugby and it was Carrick who opened the scoring after winning a scrum against the head, their forwards driving from the half way to the City of Derry 20 m. line before feeding the ball out to Neil Sowling to go over in the corner. After 11 minutes Carrick were leading 5pts to nil.
A few minutes later City of Derry secured a penalty. Philip Duffy took a quick tap and ran the length of the pitch but was stopped short and Carrick cleared their line. City of Derry forwards came back with some impressive driving from their front row of Paddy Owens, Stephen Duffy and Ross Harkin and following good work from the back row of Nathan Deeney, Barney McLaughlin and Johnny Lyons, Stephen Duffy broke through to score and level the game at 5pts all.
Shortly after the restart City of Derry full back Adam Blair ran out of defence and fed to Philip Duffy who progressed to the Carrick 20 meter line. After six forward drives with Leonard Doherty and Leon Rooney to the fore the ball was fed out for Philip Duffy to score giving City of Derry a 10pts to 5pts lead at half time.
The first half saw City of Derry get the better of the line outs while scrums and forward loose play was equal. City of Derry at times gave possession away with knock ons while Carrick failed to make use of their own line outs. At this stage the game could have gone either way.
Carrick started the second half attacking the City of Derry line but Derry held out and managed to break away and after some excellent passing Jonny Lyons went over behind the posts. Chris Dixon converted to give City of Derry a 17pts to 5pts lead.
From the kick off Derry ran the ball up to the Carrick line but Carrick defended well. A penalty to Carrick allowed them to progress to the City of Derry 20 meter line. Carrick produced a powerful scrom followed by several driving mauls by their forwards which eventually lead to Chris Brazer going over to reduce the score to 17pts to 10pts for Derry.
Carrick pressed for the next period of play but City of Derry were able to clear their lines. Carrick won a line out allowing their forwards to drive through but gave away a penalty allowing City of Derry to cleat their lines again. The Derry forwards got on top and drove to the half way line and won a penalty which Phillip Duffy took quickly and ran 40 meters to score. Chris Dixon converted to give City of Derry a 24pts to 10pts lead.
Carrick did not give up and again attacked Derry incessantly but the home team defended well with Eoin Halliday, Cathal Harkin, Adam Blair, John Lafferty and Chris Killen putting their bodies on the line. They eventually forced Carrick to conceded a penalty close to the City of Derry line and their final assault was extinguished. Derry took play into the Carrick half and after several forward drives Philip Duffy broke through the Carrick defence again to score and give City of Derry a 29pts to 10pts lead which they carried to the final whistle.
Both teams showed considerable ability and enthusiasm right to the end. The Carrick backs showed what a good team they are but failed to finish some impressive moves. Both sets of forwards worked extremely hard with neither team dominating. Man of the Match Philip Duffy made the difference with several long piercing runs and an ability to feed the ball to his players. The Carrick coach commented that although his team played well they allowed City of Derry to take play from them at crucial times and in Philip Duffy they had a match winner.
City of Derry RFC;: Adam Blair, Chris Killen, John Lafferty, Eoin Halliday, Cathal Harkin, Chris Dixon, Philip Duffy. Patrick Owen, Stephen Duffy, Ross Harkin, Leonard Doherty, Leon Rooney, Barney McLaughlin, Jonathan Lyons, Nathan Deeney
Carrickfergus: Andy Armstrong, Neil Sowling, Gareth Clarke, James Porter, Chris Wallace, Stephen Martin, David Moore, Willie McLean, Arthur Taylor, Craig McArthur, Neil McGookin, Gareth Barnard, Matthew Gibson, Will Johnston, Craig Brezer.
