Both City of Derry and Ards started nervously and play was defensive for the first 10 minutes as both teams settled in. Both sets of forwards were retaining the ball and making forward drives. Eventually after 10 minutes Ards forwards drove up to the Derry 22 meter line. A penalty given away by Derry allowed Willie Maynard to slot the ball over the posts to give Ards a 3 point lead. City of Derry settled and strong running by the City of Derry backs led to the final pass going to Jason McDermott who went past 3 Ards defenders to score under the posts. Philip Duffy converted to give Derry a 7-3 lead. Soon after the kick off Derry backs playing with increased confidence fed the ball out through several players to eventually Philip Duffy to go over in the corner for an unconverted try.
At this stage the scrums were equal, both sets of forwards were working well in the loose but Ards were losing the ball through knock ons and turnovers. Both sets of backs were running well but Derry was starting to impress with their strong running and more imaginative moves.
Strong play by the Derry forwards drove them up to the Ards 22 meter line but Derry gave away a penalty and Ards cleared. Derry gained possession and following several good forward drives fed the ball out wide but were stopped short of the line Eventually Wilson Greene collected the ball to drive over. The score was now 17-3 to Derry and they were starting to control the game.
Derry forwards were soon back driving up to the Ards line. Ards defended well but eventually Brian Prue showing his agricultural background drove over like a raging bull for Philip Duffy to convert to make the score 24-3 at half time.
At this stage the Derry forwards were starting to dominate the scrums. They achieved several turnovers in loose play and their defence was well organised and led to several Ards mistakes. Derry backs were imaginative in their moves and showed high levels of fitness and speed. Ards, however, continued to battle and their forwards had several periods of good driving. Their backs were well organised but both their forwards and backs at times allowed Derry to retain possession by knocking forward or l0osing the ball to Derry.
Derry were playing an expansive game and with the ball passing through several hands eventually led to William Larkin beating 2 Ards players to score under the posts. Philip Duffy converted to make the score 31-3. Further good forward play by Derry led to the ball being fed to Chris Killen to score in the corner. Derry’s forwards stepped up their aggressive play leading to several forced errors by Ards. The Ards forwards, however, never gave up and were not to register a try. The Derry defence was, however, well organised. The Derry backs were by now feeding the ball wide and making several long runs. One resulted in a superb run by Jason McDermott to score followed soon after by Phillip Duffy scoring the final try to leave the final score Derry 48 Ards 3.
After the match injured captain, John Laverty, said he was very pleased with the way his team had played and especially the way they organised themselves during the game.
