City of Derry back to winning ways over C.I.Y.M.S
City of Derry 29
C.I.Y.M.S. 19
A blistering first half propelled City of Derry to back to back wins over C.I.Y.M.S. at Judge’s Road on Saturday afternoon.
Richard McCarter’s men had the game wrapped up by half time, leading 22-7, and could afford to concede two late tries with a crucial bonus point victory already in the bag.
Sitting third now in Championship One, Derry are simmering up nicely, and while they are yet to reach a premature boiling point, the side is clearly on a path towards success.
Indeed, the home side could afford to field without first teamers Sam Duffy, Jamie Millar and Simon Logue and barely bat an eyelash. Young Eoin Coyle slotted in seamlessly at scrum-half and with his speed of ruck ball and big game temperament looks a real prospect.
Perhaps looking to avenge last week’s loss, there was idle pre-match talk of a C.I. backlash, but any thoughts of Derry complacency were put to bed despite the opposition first drawing blood.
“For us it was just important to get the attitude right today,” explainned Derry boss McCarter shortly after the impressive win.
“We knew we were capable of winning it and we wanted to put them to bed.
“I thought the first half was excellent. We left a couple of scores out there. At half-time the feeling was ‘how much are we going to win by?’
“We were maybe slightly disappointed that we didn’t go on to score more tries,” he continued, “but at this stage of the season it’s more about the win and then getting the bonus point.
“I checked my watch and we didn’t actually touch the ball for the first five or six minutes,” he acknowledged, “and they were deservedly in front. But it was an emphatic response to score a try and then score another straight from the kick off.
“That was a real sucker punch to them. It looked like we were going to run riot and maybe get a few more tries before half-time, but 22-7 put us in a pretty comfortable position.”
C.I. indeed came bolting out of the blocks and that early but brief period of dominance culminated in a 6th minute converted Scott Finlay try.
However, home supporter nerves were soon soothed when Derry responded almost immediately when Mr Reliable himself
David Lapsley touched down after some very easy on the eye rugby from the hosts.
An Alex McDonnell conversion and penalty handed the home side a 10-7 advantage, and a lead they would never relinquish.
McDonnell’s kicking out of his hands, too, was nothing short of immaculate. What a class act the out half is.
A second Lapsley try in the 14th minute owed much to the spadework of the Thornton brothers. Tiernan took a fine catch before sibling Killene’s line break resulted in that sophomore Lapsley score.
Tiarnan Dillon’s beautiful line-out catch underlined the improvements in that particular area that City of Derry have been implementing on the training pitch, while Stephen Corr’s tackle count was characteristically sky high. The all action Jake McDevitt wasn’t far behind his big No.8.
Try number three stretched Derry’s lead to fifteen points. Killene Thornton, another player producing quality rugby on a consistent basis, took possession of the ball out wide on the left. With plenty of traffic ahead of him and very little space
Thornton somehow conjured up a try courtesy of some fine footwork and no shortage of strength.
Half-time: City of Derry 22-7 C.I.Y.M.S.
Derry’s fourth try shortly after the resumption of play confirmed their bonus point win and pretty much signalled the end of their attacking interest in the contest.
As the thin winter air cooled further unsung hero Jack Beattie touched down on the right wing, with McDonnell’s conversion handing the hosts a winning 29-7 lead. There would be no way back for the visitors.
C.I.Y.M.S battled on gamely in an ultimately losing cause, and tries in the 68th and 73rd minute wiped a little blood off their scoreboard. But this was another good day for City of Derry who next up travel to face a Cooke side who sit just below Derry in the table.
“I’ve always been a ‘take it one game at a time’ person, and that’s exactly what we have to do,” said McCarter ahead of Saturday’s challenge. “It was important to win today. Great to get the bonus point.
“We know next Saturday is a massive game up in Cooke. It’s an eight or ten pointer. We’ve a lot of motivation to go there now.”
Saturday’s victory was a real battle of attrition, with hard working physio Neal McCauley shuttled on and off the pitch at regular intervals.
But Head Coach McCarter expects his key players to be fit and available next time out. “We’ve a few wee bumps and bruises,” he conceded, “but that’s just the nature of the game. C.I. were very physical in that second half and I don’t think our backs saw too much ball in the second half. But everyone’s unscathed and hopefully there’s a few more to come back in for next week.”
City of Derry: Fearghus Canning, Cathal Cregan, Adam Marley, Tiarnan Dillon, Gerard Doherty, Tiernan Thornton, Jake McDevitt, Stephen Corr, Eoin Coyle, Alex McDonnell, David Graham, David Lapsley, Jack Beattie, Ross McLaughlin, Killene Thornton. Subs: Colm Creggan, Tom Cameron, Cein McColgan