City of Derry Rugby Club continued from where they left off last week when they comprehensively defeated Instonians in the All Ireland League and on Saturday last they scored a deserved victory over Malone in the Ulster Senior League. The victory was founded on a superb defensive display when they outscored their Belfast rivals by three try’s to one and only conceded seven points in the process. This result and the manner in which it was achieved will have laid down a marker for when both teams meet in All Ireland League Division 2A at Judges Road at the end of March.
The conditions on Saturday were good considering the forecast and the deluge that was that was endured all week in the run-up to the game. Cit yof Derry’s grounds expert Malcolm Burns and convener Robert Thompson must be congratulated for producing pitches which were playable last weekend when others in Ulster were not.
Derry started in whirlwind fashion when the pack produced a series of quick ruck ball with Bob McKillop, Stephen Ferguson, Richard Baird, Chris McDonald and Captain Stephen Corr producing a combination of strong driving and control at the breakdown that had Malone on the back foot. Andrew Semple found out half Richard Peoples who released Adam Bratton to show power and pace to crash in for Derry’s first try which Peoples converted for a 7pts to nil lead with 2 minutes gone.
Richard Peoples was back on the scoreboard 5 minutes later when good play from Gareth Beattie, Cathal Cregan and Chris Shields forced a Malone infringement and a penalty 25 meters out in front of the post was an easy task and Derry’s lead was 10pts to nil. Malone came back strong at Derry and excellent play from Lee Barlow, Peter Rodgers and Captain Glen Moore brought play inside the Derry 22. The Judges Road defense stood strong and the combination of Chris McDonald, Corr and Baird manufactured turn over which Derry clinically capitalised on. Derry moved the ball quickly out of their own half and when Baird made the decisive line break David Funston was in support to inject the necessary pace and when he drew his man Simon Logue sprinted in from 30 meters out to touch down for a great try and with Peoples converting Derry were 17pts to nil in front with the game only 12 minutes old.
The Derry scrum was dominant all through and with props Gareth (Shiner) Beattie dominating at tight head and Chris Shields doing the same at loose head, they along with hooker Cathal Cregan made sure they set a platform for their back row to operate with freedom. The Derry scrum was their own downfall on 17 minutes when they destroyed the Malone pack with a powerful drive 5 meters from their own posts, unfortunately the scrum wheeled taking out the Derry back row defense. This left the Malone No 8 Neil Alcorn to pickup to run in for an easy try which full back Shandon Scott converted to reduce Derry’s lead to 17pts to 7pts.
Derry continued their territorial advantage with good strong combination play between backs and forwards. Chris Barbour was showing what an outstanding talent he is this week playing at full back where his positional play, kicking and running were exceptional. Adam Bratton gave a Man of the Match performance with incisive strong running and tackling and with William McCleery returning to the wing Derry always posed a serious threat. Chris McDonald starting for the first time at home for the 1st XV had his best game and he along with McKillop and Baird were responsible for catching Malone off side on the stroke of half time which allowed Richard Peoples to convert the resulting penalty to give Derry a 20pts to 7pts half time lead. Malone’s cause was not helped with their hooker Daryl Maxwell being sent to the bin also.
The second half was mainly evenly contested with most of the play being acted out between the two 22 meter lines. The two sides struggled to come to grips with the game and unforced errors were the order of the day. The Derry defense produced good turn over’s when Malone were hoping to get themselves back into the game. The starring role of the play within the play was young Chris McDonald who turned over ball single handedly on a number of occasions when required to keep the opposition at bay.
Derry finally made the breakthrough to seal victory on 55 minutes when McKillop, Corr, Baird and McDonald gave their backs quick ball in mid field. Andrew Semple found David Funston who once again showed power driving forward and when he connected with the Campsie Steamroller Stephen Ferguson 25 meters out there was only going to be one result. Ferguson with a powerful run terrified the opposition as he pushed tacklers out of his way or ran over them on his surge to the line to score a memorable unconverted try to leave the score 25pts to 7pts for Derry.
Derry saw out the remainder of the game with little difficulty and despite Richard Baird being sin binned on 70 minuets there was little for Derry coaches Bevan Lynch and Mark Nicholl to worry about as they unloaded their bench. This victory consolidates Derry’s position in third place in the Ulster Senior League behind Dungannon and Belfast Harlequins. Their next Ulster League game is against Ballymena at home on New Year’s Eve and they will be hoping to eradicate the memory of their narrow defeat in the Ulster Cup S/Final at the end of last month to the Braid men.
City of Derry RFC Team V Malone: Chris Shields, Cathal Cregan, Gareth Beattie, Bob McKillop, Stephen Ferguson, Stephen Corr, Chris McDonald, Richard Baird, Andrew Semple, Richard Peoples, William McCleery, David Funston, Adam Bratton, Simon Logue, Chris Barbour Replacements: Sam Duffy, Stephen Duffy, Brian Prue, Ian Vance, Rudi Moore.
