Improvement for City of Derry but 'still another level to go yet'

City of Derry  14

Ballyclare  33

City of Derry caretaker coach Chris Cooper believes there are green shoots of recovery despite witnessing his side’s most recent defeat on Saturday.

Derry succumbed to a 33-14 defeat to league leaders Ballyclare at Judges Road but after the game Cooper was quick to flag up the positives in a so far difficult season.

“Our attitude and intensity was better,” insisted the forwards coach. “The work rate, the hunger and desire were definitely a step up from where we’ve been in the first few games. We were just not happy with some of the commitment of some of the players.

“We want to play a fast game and we can only play that if we’re getting off the deck and getting in to positions to carry the ball. I felt like we did that a lot more today.”

Three defeats from four leave Derry rooted to the foot of Ulster Rugby Division One, but the Derry head coach, in the absence of Richard McCarter on Saturday, was keen to accentuate the positives.

“I’m proud of the boys to be honest for the effort they put in. It’s definitely an improved performance from the first three matches but I think we’ve another level to go to yet. That’s what I was just saying to the boys there – there’s more there.”

Indeed, with the late September sun peaking through the white skies, Derry started well and controlled both possession and territory early on. Stephen Corr thundered into and through a number of would be Ballyclare tacklers, while out-half Alex McDonnell and full-back Killene Thornton also caught the eye with jinking runs through enemy lines. Simon Logue, playing in an unfamiliar centre role, was hammering into tackles.

Unfortunately for Derry they found themselves 14-0 down by the 25th minute after Ballyclare scrum half James Creighton touched down twice in quick succession.

But with McDonnell dropping the shoulder and making half breaks, and Corr taking the more direct approach, the home side fought back, reducing their deficit to 14-7 courtesy of a deserved penalty try.

Fly-half McDonnell caught a classy and courageous ‘up and under’, much to a hearty roar of approval of the Judges Road support, as Derry enjoyed their best phase of the contest.

However, with the half-time whistle about to blow in referee Mark Patton’s mouth, Ballyclare scored their third try which was converted by the impeccable Mark Jackson. It was a classic sucker punch.

To their credit the home side never folded. Indeed, they battled back to 21-14 soon after the restart when the lively Killene Thornton touched down in the far right hand corner. Thornton converted his own try magnificently from the touch line to pull Derry right back into contention.

The twinkle-toed Thornton was at the very heart of this all too brief Derry revival, again evading defenders as he side side-stepped his way out of his own ’22 only to run out of support and ideas.

But just as the green and black men had scrapped back their way into contention, the league leaders found an extra gear. Mark Jackson scored his side’s bonus try in the 57th minute to hand Ballyclare more than enough breathing space.

Derry refused to wilt, however. Corr, with those powerful big tree trunk legs, was still breaking tackles and taking the fight to the opposition. But with Derry struggling to get out of their own half for any real period of time Ballyclare ran in their final try to run out nineteen point winners.

“I felt that they were a bit more structured than ourselves,” admitted Chris Cooper. “They’re a decent side obviously. They’ve been at the top of this league for the last few years. You can see it in some of their play. They’ve won the All Ireland Junior Cup as well. They’re well organised and well drilled.

“But for sixty minutes we were in the game,” he continued. “We brought it back after half-time and we said if we score first we’re in the game. We brought it back to 21-14. “

Cooper pointed to a couple of fatal mistakes as his side coughed up possession only to be clinically punished.

“There were a couple of scrappy turnovers,” he explained. “We had a break just inside their ‘10’ and a foot went into touch. They turned it over and three phases later they scored in the corner. That just took the wind out of our sails then.”

Despite the loss the Derry coach acknowledged his men didn’t embarrass themselves and showed remarkable resilience despite recent results.

“That’s it,” he enthused. “That’s what we asked for – hunger, for passion. We asked for heart and pride in the jersey. And we definitely got that today at times.”

Derry get the perfect shot at redemption next week when they host neighbours Limavady in a mouth-watering North West derby.

“The good thing about sport is that you’ve another week to put things right,” said Cooper. “We’ll have two good, hard training sessions on Tuesday and Thursday.

“It brings another spice to it which is good. We haven’t played Limavady now in a couple of years and it should be exciting. We’ve a few local boys who will be chomping at each other and hopefully there will be a good crowd for the boys to play in front of too.”

City of Derry: Adam Marley, Cathal Cregan, Jack Sayers, Cein McColgan, Fergus Canning, David Brown, Tiernan Thornton, Stephen Corr, Jamie Millar, Alex McDonnell, Jack Beattie, David Lapsley, Simon Logue, Ross McLaughlin, Killene Thornton