City of Derry ready for 'emotional' day at Kingspan

Junior Cup Final - Kingspan Stadium   |   City of Derry vs. Dromore   |   Saturday, 5pm

Saturday promises to be an emotional day at Kingspan Park for everyone at City of Derry, but particularly Richard McCarter, as he aims to lead the club to its first senior trophy in 14 years.

The Head Coach was in the team which defeated Armagh at Dubarry Park in Athlone in January, 2010, even scoring a try as Derry secured a dramatic, late victory to lift the Junior Cup.

Now McCarter is hoping to complete a unique double, winning the trophy as a player and a coach, with Dromore the only team standing in the way at Kingspan Park on Saturday.

Excitement for this game has been growing for the past few weeks, and with the final league game against Ballymoney now out of the way, McCarter, the team and supporters can now fully focus on the biggest game for the club in well over a decade.

“It's great to end the season on a real positive like this,” McCarter admitted. “Everyone's really looking forward to it. It was nice just to get that last league game out of the way because the final has been a wee bit of a distraction over the last few weeks, but to get that league game out of the way and finish with a victory there, it means we can now look forward to it and talk about it and really set our sights on Ravenhill on Saturday.”

Fourth place finish

The win guaranteed a fourth-place finish for Derry at the end of a campaign which was wildly different before and after Christmas. McCarter’s team began the Ulster Championship One season with unstoppable, attacking rugby that had them in contention right at the top, with a shock defeat at Carrick the only blip.

Come January however, the picture changed completely, with injuries almost undoing all the good work which went before.

“The second half of the season was different and it just shows the fine margins involved at this level,” McCarter said. “If you don't have a deep enough squad to compete, you know you're going to struggle.

City of Derry Head Coach Richard McCarter gives out instructions to his players in one of the final training sessions ahead of this weekend’s Junior Cup final. (Photo: Tom Heaney, nwpresspics)

"We really found that out because we did pick up an awful lot of injuries, but when you take a few of our key players out of the side it makes a big difference and we just never really recovered from that and never really got going in the league in the second half. That's why getting to the cup final was so important for us.”

What makes this weekend’s final even more intriguing is that each team has a victory over the other this season; City of Derry beating Dromore 45-15 at Judges Road back in November, while Dromore gained revenge with a 39-23 victory at home in January. With a full panel to choose from, as seems to be the case this weekend, McCarter has seen for himself that his team can beat this weekend’s opponents.

“We know we can beat anybody on our day at this level if we're accurate and we get the right personnel on the pitch,” he acknowledged. “We have to play well to beat any of these teams but they'll also be thinking exactly the same so it's going to be a real tough battle for 80 minutes on Saturday.

“The nerves are going to be a factor, as well the whole occasion but our mindset is just to go out and try and enjoy it. It's been 12 years since we've reached the final at the men's first 15 level and I don't want the day to pass us by and we end up having regrets, going into our shells and not play, so the message this week is to go out and enjoy it and express themselves. If we do that and we play well we stand a good chance of winning.”

Ravenhill

Reaching a final is incentive enough for the players, but to play the game at Ravenhill, the home of Ulster rugby, takes the excitement up yet another notch for the players this weekend.

“There's a big deal around it,” McCarter agreed. “We've been sent a schedule from the Ulster branch and even that in itself is a bit different.

City of Derry players celebrate winning the Junior Cup back in 2010. (Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile)

"We have to arrive at a certain time, we have to warm up in a certain area at a certain time and we're in the main Ulster changing rooms on Saturday which will be a big deal for the players. Just everything about it, it’s a totally new experience and one that doesn't come around too often so we have to make the most of it. Obviously, it would be brilliant if we could come home with the cup, but the experience is just as important.”

McCarter knows exactly what it’s like to play in and win a Junior Cup final, and he is hoping that his players can embrace the occasion, and not let the grandeur of the day get to them come kick-off.

“It's a long time ago now. Probably speaking from experience, you get that wound up for cup finals sometimes, that's why they tend not to be great matches because both teams are so stressed about it. You really shouldn't. Both teams have done really well to get there and you want it to be a good game. From our point of view, we know that we've got our strengths we need to try and play to those strengths and hopefully the conditions and things like that will allow us to do so.”

The City of Derry squad hoping to win the club’s first trophy in 14 years when they face Dromore at Kingspan Stadium on Saturday. (Photo: Tom Heaney, nwpresspics)

The McCarter family and City of Derry RFC have been intrinsically linked for decades now with Gerald McCarter enjoying an illustrious career ahead of his son taking the reins at Judges Road. The club is in Richard’s veins, so this cup final understandably means everything to a man who has seen it all in his time at the club.

“I'm trying not to think too much about that to be honest with you because we've still got two sessions to go and we've got a job today on Saturday at the end of the day. But yeah, I think it will be emotional in one way or another win, lose or draw,” he conceded.

“It's one of those occasions, it's emotional anyway but when you put so much into the club; I would be here as a supporter if I wasn't the coach and I know Coops and Steven Duffy and the other coaches are exactly the same. It will be a big day for everybody and we want to enjoy it as well as the players so hopefully, we get out if it what we deserve and what we put in and that's all you can really ask for.”