City of Derry book Kingspan Stadium date with superb semi-final victory over Cooke

City of Derry 32, Cooke 16

City of Derry secured a first cup final appearance in 12 years after four second half tries defeated Cooke to secure a spot in the Ulster Junior Cup decider against either Ballyclare or Dromore.

Those two will battle it out next Saturday but Derry can book the bus to Kingspan Stadium after producing their best half of rugby since the turn of the year to deservedly see off the Belfast men. A flat opening half in which Davy Graham's brilliant try was the exception rather than the rule gave way to scintillating second half style which saw Derry's backline cut loose and Cooke had not answer.

Two try Simon Logue was sensational, Killene Thornton was, well..... Killene Thornton and while David Lapsley was an impressive foil. Up front the home pack dominated the scrum with Gerard Doherty a rampaging presence with some big, sometimes unsung ball carries. It was exactly what the 'Green and Black' needed but from the moment they edged their noses in front second half, the shackles came off and Head Coach Richard McCarter was delighted.

"It hasn't been an easy few seasons," admitted McCarter, "My first year as Head Coach we got relegated. Last year we had a semi-final heartache here against Enniskillen and we were determined that wasn't going top happen again.

"This means the world to all of us to be honest. It's been a challenging few season, none more so than the last couple of months, but that’s really given us a massive boost. To get to a cup final at the Kingspan is something we can really look forward to. I want the boys to enjoy tonight now because cup finals don’t come around too often.”

If they enjoyed the celebrations half as much as they enjoyed the second half, that will have been some night! Turning around with a 8-13 deficit Derry had been strangely subdued. An early yellow card for scrum half Jamie Millar hadn't helped their cause but when Logue's 22nd minute Garryowen was spilled on half-way by Cooke winger James Brennan, Derry had the perfect man snooping in Davy Graham. he gathered and accelerated away as only 'DG' can to make the run in look easy.

That put Derry 8-3 up but they'd had to withstand some heavy Cooke pressure and Brennan made amends on the half hour mark with Cooke's solitary try of the day, stealing around the blindside to run in from 40m. There was more than a suspicious of the ball not having been released from the tackle that preceded his run but the try helped Cooke to a deserved half-time lead.

The lead was extended by Andrew McMurray's third penalty of the day but that 44th minute penalty would be Cooke's last say in the semi-final.

Just four minutes later a great break from Jake McDevitt took Derry deep into Cooke territory from where Fearghus Canning was the man to eventually force his way over. Derry still trailed at 13-16 but the tide was turning and a moment of brilliance proved the seminal score.

With 20 minutes left Derry moved the ball left where Killene Thornton joined the line. Thornton drew the defence in but was running out of pitch until he spotted Logue's inside run and reversed a lovey off load which sent 'Logie' flying through a previously non-existent gap to score from 30m. With Alex McDonnell converting Derry were four in front and everything about the team changed. Indecision became determination and hesitation became decisiveness as Derry went on the offensive with some of their best rugby of the season.

Cooke sent a penalty wide but Derry weren't about to be denied and it was McDonnell this time ducking through a gap to open up Cooke before feeding Thornton who had yet again appeared in the right place at the right time. The outcome was an inevitable fourth try which put Derry 27-16 up and with one foot in the final.

There was still however for another lovely 76th minute try and it was Lapsley this time playing the role of creator as he punched a hole in the Cooke defensive line from midfield. There was always going to be too much cover to make it himself but when an opposition is converging on you, who better to have on your shoulder than Simon Logue, who accepted the responsibility to score his second and Derry's fifth try of the day.

It capped a wonderful 40 minutes. Twelve months on from semi-final heartache at the hands of Enniskillen, City of Derry had wiped the slate clean to book their spot at Kingspan Stadium. A considerable hurdle still awaits to be cleared but if Derry can reach these levels again at the home of Ulster rugby, no one could deny them a chance to dream.

City of Derry: Fearghus Canning, Cathal Cregan, Sam Duffy, Cein McColgan, Gerard Doherty, Ryan Higgins, Jake McDevitt, Tiarnan Dillon, Jamie Millar, Alex McDonnell, Simon Logue, David Lapsley, David Graham, Jack Beattie, Killene Thornton. (Replacements) Adam Marley, Gareth Duncan, Tom Cameron, Aaron Deery, Eoin Coyle.

Cooke: Ethan Sloan, Tom-Arthur Donnan, Johnny McClune, Callum Foreman, Steven Foreman, Rhodhri Phillips, Rhys Phillips, Jason Lyons, Oliver McKibbon, Andrew Hanna, James Brennan, Kyle Mitchell, John Laughlin, Connor Phillips, Andrew McMurray. (Replacements) Daruis Kittle, Ian Moxen, Oliver Faith, Joe Mallinson, Simon Jackson.

Referee: John Moynihan