Seven-try City of Derry too hot to handle at Judges Road!

City of Derry 45

Grosvenor 29

David Lapsley hit a hat trick on a day of tries galore at Judges Road, as City of Derry made it two wins from three at the start of a new season of Ulster Championship One rugby.

It is now 110 points from the three opening games for Richard McCarter’s side, who are certainly giving their Head Coach something to think about just three weeks into the new season. Incredible in attack, but generous in defence, each of Derry’s games against Ballymoney, Enniskillen and now Grosvenor have been high-scoring to say the least.

The green and blacks hit an incredible seven tries on Saturday, and some of their attacking play was exceptional, one particular highlight a typical bulldozing run from David Graham and an outrageous reverse pass from Lapsley to set up Jamie Millar for Derry’s fifth try of the game.

And while Grosvenor may have scored five tries themselves and grabbed a losing bonus point in the process, they were never really in the type of competitive game the score line may suggest. The visitors both started and ended the game well, but 50 minutes in between was all City of Derry, with McCarter’s side playing some seriously exceptional rugby to race into what was at one stage a 45-17 lead.

Indiscipline cost Derry two late tries however, Lapsley, Ian Bratton and Graham all receiving yellow cards, meaning the home side played different variations of 13 men in the final 25 minutes. That will be a concern to McCarter of course, but second only to tightening up the defence without sacrificing some of that free-flowing attacking rugby which Grosvenor had little answer to.

Two tries down

Derry started the game very sluggishly and found themselves 12-0 down after 20 minutes. Grosvenor were high on confidence and took the game to the hosts early, and got a reward when Stuart Smith carried the ball over the line, with Timmy McMullan converting.

Derry couldn’t get any momentum behind them, and in fact could barely get out of their own half, and were in more trouble when James McMaster powered over the line after great work from Jack Breen.

It was at this stage in the game, that Derry finally awoke from their slumber and unsurprisingly it was centre Graham, as he has on so many other occasions, who resuscitated his team with a determined run forward before he set up Lapsley for the first of three for the outside-centre. Alex McDonnell’s conversion made it 7-12 and the game was back on.

McCarter didn’t have to wait much longer to see his team go ahead, as they really began to ramp up the pressure, hitting a second try on 25 minutes when McDonnell showed his craft to find space and set up Stephen Corr for a simple finish. McDonnell’s conversion made it 14-12 and that bad start was quickly forgotten.

The tide had turned completely in this game as half time approached with Graham and McDonnell conducting each attack and it was clear that Grosvenor were in trouble. The third Derry try came in the dying seconds of the first half, Bratton leading a three-on-two attack that was executed perfectly, Graham setting up Lapsley for his second. A successful conversion meant that there was now a nine-point difference between the two sides.

Half Time 21-12

The bonus try wasn’t long in coming for Derry, 10 minutes in fact, and McDonnell was again at the heart of it, breaking into the Grosvenor ’22 before setting up Bratton for the finish.

The home side were hitting their stride again and a fifth try followed just three minutes later, and it was the pick of the bunch. It seemed that the Grosvenor players knew not to get in Graham’s way as three of them let the big centre through them too easily, and he offloaded to Lapsley, who, under pressure, produced a ridiculous reverse pass into the path of Millar, who just about made it over the line mid-tackle. That made it 33-12 and the points were more than safe at this stage.

But sill the tries kept coming.

Derry lost Lapsley to a yellow card amidst some good Grosvenor pressure and the away side pulled one back when Breen touched down.

Another yellow for Bratton followed, and Derry wee briefly down to 13. Lapsley returned with a bang however, completing his hat trick within seconds thanks to sterling work from Simon Logue.

There was plenty of time for a seventh Derry try and to the biggest cheer of the day, Tom Cameron chipped in, feigning a dummy just yards from the line, and sending a Grosvenor player in a different direction before he touched down right underneath the posts.

At 45-17, it was emphatic for Derry, but another yellow, this time to Graham, put them down to 13 again, and Grosvenor took full advantage, grabbing that losing bonus through a late score from Tom McMullan. Another followed from McNeight and Grosvenor had at least some respectability on the scoreline, but this was Derry’s day with the home side well worthy of their five points.

Teams

CITY OF DERRY: F Canning, C Cregan, S Duffy, G Doherty, T Dillon, T Thorton, J McDevitt, S Corr, J Millar, A McDonnell, J Beattie, D Lapsley, D Graham, I Bratton, S Logue.

GROSVENOR: M Stevenson, S Smyth, J McMaster, B Davison, M Baird, N Adams, T Pollock, S Burrows, N Simpson, B Johnston, C Knell, B Coard, T McMullan, J Breen, J McNeight.