Tuesday 9th February. Andrew Smallwoods reports.
‘Skins produced probably their gutsiest performance of the season to date in a losing cause to title chasing City of Derry under the Mullaghmeen lights last Tuesday evening, giving their all with a determination to eradicate a couple of embarrassing results to the same side last season.
The omens did not look good right from the opening kick-off as the visitors pummelled the ‘Skins line, eventually crossing for the game’s opening try after five minutes, an effort that was converted from wide out.
Worse was to follow as City of Derry, chasing a bonus point win to keep in touch with leaders Armagh, increased their lead after fourteen when a missed tackle in midfield put the visitors on the front foot, and they managed to cross the line despite what looked an obvious knock-on.
It was then that ‘Skins opened up and started to compete with the visitors in every facet of the game, and got their reward after twenty-six minutes. A fine break by James Carleton took play close to the City of Derry line and two phases of play later Chris Dickey came off his wing to burst over the line and score, reducing the scoreline to 5 – 12, and thus it remained until halftime.
The second half brought four tries for the visitors, one in injury time at the end of the game, but ‘Skins never let the heads drop and continued to compete for every ball, despite not getting the rub of the green on any marginal decisions from a whistle happy official.
It would be unfair to pick out any individual as all seventeen put everything into the game and will deserve a few days rest to nurse the assorted bumps, bruises and strains before picking up the gauntlet again in training this week ahead of the Towns Cup quarter final tie at Donaghadee on February 20th. With that game and some big league encounters to follow ‘Skins need to show that the performance against City of Derry was not a one-off, and display the same desire against teams who do not possess the quality that the North-West side has.
