City of Derry coach hopes morale-boosting win will build confidence

City of Derry Head Coach Neil Beddow is hoping that the club's victory over Monaghan last week will lead to bigger and better things in the coming months.

Tries from Sam Milligan, David Lapsley and Andrew Millar helped City of Derry secure a first victory in 13 months as they defeated Monaghan to advance to the next round of the Ulster Junior Shield.

Victory over Randalstown on the opening day of the 2024 season was Derry's last win at First XV level but the 'Green and Black' were well worth their weekend victory which should have been more comprehensive.

The sides were levels at 14-14 at half-time but with Alex McDonnell controlling the game in a superb display that also saw him kick 12 points, Derry pulled away after the break to secure a win that Head Coach Neil Beddow hopes will provide a real confidence boost.

"It was good to get the first win and I thought we actually deserved to win by more," explained the Derry coach who shook off the effects of shoulder surgery on Friday to ensure he was on the touchline 24 hours later.

"I think I saw in the players a nervousness when we got ahead. I spoke to the guys after the game and I think Monaghan were there for the opportunity to get maybe another two or three scores put on to them but I think once we got a couple of scores ahead the guys were happy to just nurse the game through.

"Monaghan were everything we expected them to be. They were big up front with a big ball carrier in their No. 8. Will Arkell. They also had Gerard Trainor who used to play for Armagh; he's been about for a long time and can float around different positions along the backline but found himself at 15 for a lot of the second half along with their scrum half.

"They both found themselves in the back field a lot and they were dangerous runners but I thought we dealt wit that well. After the first 10 or 15 minutes of them having much bigger men than ourselves, we settled into the game well."

City of Derry are in action next against Carrick.

Beddow acknowledged the significance of the win but said the winless streak was not something he had put any emphasis on since taking charge at Judges Road in the close season.

"A few of the players mentioned it and while I haven't made a highlight about it at all, that's the first win for some of these boys since August 2024 which is just incredible; 13 months to not have had a victory of any level," added the Derry coach.

"Again, I haven't mentioned that, it hasn't been a talking point as far as I am concerned. It has always been, 'Listen, things will come it is just a matter of us continuing to work through the things we are trying.

"I hope it does bring confidence because I didn't feel in the first couple of weeks that we really fired a shot at either of the opposition we faced but I genuinely felt on Saturday that both forwards and backs were good.

"Whenever we play proper rugby as to what we have been training I thought we looked exceptional. It still didn't happen enough in the game for my liking, or probably for the players liking, but definitely you could see on Saturday that the foundations are potentially beginning to come and that should give them a bit of confidence going in against Carrick.

"The only thing I would say ahead of that game against Carrick is that we will need to be better again to get a result out of Carrick."

The City of Derry Head Coach singled out his out-half for praise the 13 point victory but stressed there is plenty more hard work ahead as Derry seek to consolidate and then rebuild.

"The guys probably haven't had the belief but I thought on Saturday Alex (McDonnell) stood up incredibly. He showed the player he is, marshalling and controlling the boys around him.

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"Hopefully the result and the performance gives them a bit of a fillet. Getting the victory, the song in the changing rooms after the game, that's everything rugby ought to be so, listen, we'll go into this week's game against Carrick with a wee bit more confidence that we had going in against Monaghan and, again, it is up to Carrick to throw it to us."