Ravenhill opportunity slips through City of Derry's hands

City of Derry  12

Enniskillen  24

CITY of Derry fell to cup specialists Enniskillen in Saturday’s Ulster Junior Cup semi-final at Judge’s Road.

The home side failed to live up to their pre-match favourites tag billing, and in Enniskillen they met an opponent both air tight in defence and clinical in attack.

That said, had you left this game after fifteen minutes of one-sided play, and while the scoreboard had yet to shift one way or the other, you’d have been more than confident of a comfortable Derry win.

Indeed, backed by the confidence that consecutive league victories over their opponents Enniskillen instils, the home side burst into life right from the offset. David Graham and Simon Logue, with their quick feet and forward thrust, were chief among the Derry attackers as Richard McCarter’s men threw down an early gauntlet on their own turf.

Stephen Corr, of course, was in the thick of the first quarter action too, as was Tiernan Thornton who forced and early turnover much to the approval of the Judge’s Road faithful. Thunder-thighed Thornton, Derry’s line-out ‘go to’ man all season, is clearly a man that never misses legs day at the gym.

It all promised much, even if Alex McDonnell’s 10th minute penalty squirted just wide of the posts.

But while the green and black dominated both territory and possession in a feverish opening, they lacked that sharp edge to pierce an obdurate and well drilled Enniskillen defensive wall. Failure to capitalise on their earlier superiority would prove fatal to Derry.

Having weathered that early home onslaught, the Fermanagh men hit back with a classic sucker punch when Sam Balfour touched down in the corner to open the scoring at 5-0 in the 16th minute. The score would prove to be a complete momentum swinger in Enniskillen’s favour. Derry would struggle to regain that momentum for the remaining hour of the contest.

City of Derry quickly, and inexplicably, lost their rhythm as the game became a stodgy and staccato affair. As the home side struggled, emboldened Enniskillen grew in confidence. And backed by an uncontested line-out superiority they took a grip of the contest. Their line-out led to possession. Their possession led to threat. And, unlike their opponents, the visitors found a way to chisel out scores.

Cein McColgan caught the eye with a teeth rattling tackle, and Adam Marley produced an important turnover, but lost his front row partner Cathal Cregan soon after to the sin bin as Enniskillen began to squeeze the oxygen out of Derry. Creggan’s yellow card was quickly followed by Enniskillen’s second try to stretch their lead to 12-0.

The home side fought for a way back into the contest, and a life resuscitating score before the break. Stephen Corr’s late half barnstorming run, with half the Enniskillen team hanging off him, almost produced the catalyst the home side craved. But with the try line at Derry’s mercy the ball fell to touch and Enniskillen’s immaculate line-out machine dampened any threat of Derry danger.

And to add insult to injury the Fermanagh outfit stretched their half-time lead to 15-0 when out-half Keys converted a massive penalty from just short of the halfway line.

Derry needed something to breathe fresh life into their fast fading hopes after the restart. However, the double whammy of another Enniskillen penalty and the loss of Gerard Doherty to injury provided just the opening to the second half the home side could have done without.

Nevertheless, Derry fought to gain some sort of foothold in the game but continued to find the Enniskillen defence a tough nut to crack. Simon Logue eventually opened the Derry account when he touched down in the left hand corner to reduce Derry’s deficit to 18-5. The try offered hope.

But with most of Derry’s key players struggling to find their very best form, Enniskillen continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over through successive penalties to lead 24-5.

With just five minutes to go, and trailing by nineteen points it’s hard to believe that Derry might just have produced an unexpected and inspirational come-back.

Jake McDevitt scored Derry’s second try in the 76th minute, care of a couple of crucial breaks from the industrious line breaker Simon Logue, now playing at scrum half.

A scoreline of 24-12 should really have become 24-19 when a lung bursting David Lapsley run should have found his support partner David Graham. But with the try line imminent the chance to set up an unlikely and dramatic conclusion to the match was butchered.

Derry huffed and puffed to the bitter end, but attack after attack crashed on those tough tackling burgundy ramparts. This was Enniskillen’s day. Elsewhere Ballyclare edged out Cooke 13-10 set up an Ulster Junior Cup final meeting with Enniskillen.

Defeat leaves City of Derry’s season all but over, with only a shot at late season cup glory and redemption in the All Ireland Junior Cup next on the horizon.

City of Derry: Fearghus Canning, Cathal Cregan, Adam Marley, Gerard Doherty, Cein McColgan, Tiernan Thornton, Dara Gill, Stephen Corr, Jamie Millar, Alex McDonnell, Simon Logue, David Lapsley, David Graham, Ian Bratton, Killene Thornton.

Subs: Jake McDevitt, Jack Sayers, David Brown, Aaron Deery, Colm Creggan.