City of Derry Rugby Club and Instonians served up a memorable All Ireland League Division 3 encounter at Judges Road last Saturday. The fixture wad billed as the game of the day in AIL 3 with joint top of the league Instonians playing fourth placed Derry, the players did not disappoint and the supporters were kept enthralled to the end. The quality of rugby was top drawer and the drama to the end was not for the faint hearted where commitment and courage from both teams was extolled in their quest for victory.
CLICK HERE FOR 89 + PICTURES OF THE GAME COURTESY OF BERNARD DOHERTY: E: bernarddoherty@hotmail.com
City of Derry were quick out of the blocks to put down a marker that the men from Belfast would have to give their all if they were to make an impression on Derry’s field. Derry don’t do knocking at the door very well, they just like to blow it open from forty metres out and three outstanding first half try’s were testament to that. Instonians struggled to match Derry’s intensity and come to grips with the style and patterns of play that was a product of quality coaching from Bevan Lynch and Mark Nicholl. Had Derry taken their other chances that their domination allowed, they would have been thirty points ahead at half time instead they led by 19pts to 3pts.
The large Judges Road crowd had just settled on a beautiful afternoon when with less that five minutes gone winger William McCleery who looked on fire all afternoon made a break and quick recycled ball allowed scrum half Andrew Semple to find winger Simon Logue with a miss pass out wide. Logue mesmerised the opposition with a delightful chip over the Instonians defence to field the ball in his stride and score a try between the posts, Richard Peoples converted to give Derry the perfect start and a 7pts to nil lead.
The Derry pack was working hard and their set piece was the foundation for their domination. The front row of David Witherow, Captain Sam McAuley and Sam Duffy had the upper hand all afternoon against the formable Mitchell, Dornan and Ulster player Alan Whitten. The line out and kick-offs were dominated by Chris Cooper and David Houston who also produced some unbelievable fielding that many GAA players would have been proud of. Good line out ball initiated Derry’s second try, McCarter at out half made the break on seventeen minutes and quick ruck ball allowed the ubiquitous Andrew Semple to find David Funston on the rampage who used winger Logue as a decoy to side step inside to score a special unconverted try for a 12pts to nil lead.
The Derry back row of Stephen Corr, Richard Baird and Tom Patton were dominating at the break down and were harrowing and chasing as a unit. The pressure on Instonians to even get out of their own 22 was intense and Tom Patton who was having his best game of the season charged down an attempted Instonians clearance on twenty eight minutes. The ball rebounded into the in goal area and the alert Patton was on it as quick as a flash to touch down for a try which Peoples converted. Instonians eventually got into Derry territory and were rewarded with a penalty which full back Scott Browne converted to leave the half time score at 19pts to 3pts for Derry.
The second half started with Derry a man down, David Funston went to the bin for ten minutes for a high tackle in the last play of the first half. If the first half was all Derry then Instonians dominated the first twenty minutes of the second half as they got a foothold in Derry territory with the help of poor kicking out of hand from the home backs. Inaccurate kicking from Derry with just two minutes gone allowed Instonians winger Josh Devitt to make a cross field run without been tackled before linking up his full back Scott Browne who drove over for a try which he converted himself to put his team right back in the game at 19pts to 10pts down.
Further pressure from Instonians saw Derry concede two penalties for breakdown offences within the first ten minutes and Browne kicked both to reduce the Instonians arrears to 19pts to 16pts. Derry eventually repelled the siege of their half and good running by full back Peter Henderson brought play into Instonians territory. Richard Peoples and David Funston created a break for Richard McCarter on twenty minutes and when he found the impressive Tom Patton in support he touched down for an unconverted try to leave Derry leading by 24pts to 16pts.
Instonians came straight back at Derry and incessant forward drives with their two big second rows Peter Corbett and Kenny Morton almost getting over the line. Instonians wing forward Curtis Stewart was almost in on another occasion before his fellow back rower Stephen Douglas crashed over for a try on twenty seven minutes which was converted by full back Scott Browne which put just a single point between the teams with Derry leading by 24pts to 23pts with thirteen minutes remaining, and now it was game on.
Stephen Ferguson had come on for Richard Baird at half time and showed what a big powerful man he is with some strong ball carries. Ferguson along with Stephen Duffy who had come on for Sam McAuley on thirty minutes helped Derry rise to the occasion. Good possession by Derry set alarm bells ringing in the Inst defence every time and with Semple and McCarter pulling the strings Henderson, McCleery and Man of the Match Simon Logue looked like they could open the opposition defence and score anytime.
Instonians were fire fighting to quell the on fire Derry attack and two infringements on thirty and thirty-three minutes allowed Richard Peoples to kick his team into a seven points lead at 30pts to 23pts. Derry lost the outstanding Simon Logue with two cracked ribs as Peoples kicked his second penalty. This will see Logue miss out on the remainder of the season. The remaining twelve minutes which included injury time saw Instonians throw everything at Derry and camp on their line with wave after wave of pick and drive efforts, scrums and line outs. Derry to a man showed a commitment to one another and a pride in their club that epitomised the special connection this squad and coaches have with one another and their supporters.
Derry’s line was not breached and as they eventually cleared their lines the tension was lifted as Derry made Instonians play out the final two minutes of the game in their own half. Derry coach Bevan Lynch said after the game “this was a great result, Mark Nicholl and I could not have asked any more of our players. There are a lot of tired bodies in the changing room just now but the happiness that is in their and upstairs in the club rooms is something special. We can now go to Cork next Saturday and assure promotion with a victory over Highfield. Simon Logue will be a massive loss for us as he is such a special player. We hope to have Ryan Campbell and Josh Lewis available after injury for selection and this will compensate for the loss of Simon”.
City of Derry Team: : David Witherow, Sam McAuley, Sam Duffy, David Houston, Chris Cooper, Stephen Corr, Tom Patton, Richard Baird, Andrew Semple, Richard McCarter, William McCleery, Richard Peoples, David Funston, Simon Logue, Peter Henderson. Replacements: Stephen Duffy, Chris Shields, Philip Brady, Stephen Ferguson, Stephen Simms.
