City of Derry fall to back-to-back Letterkenny defeats in Championship Two

City of Derry 17, Letterkenny 24

Letterkenny completed a Championship Two 'north west double' with their second victory over City of Derry inside just seven days on what proved a sobering afternoon for the Judges Road club on Saturday.

The visitors were well worth their victory after a dominant 50 minutes but already leading 5-24, all Letterkenny's good work was almost undone by ill discipline when three second half yellow cards threatened to derail their win. The numerical advantage, which briefly saw 15 playing 13, offered Derry a route back as tries from Josh Cole and Mark Grant brought Neil Beddow's men within one try, but there would be no reprieve and a losing bonus point won't camouflage a poor day at the office.

Despite starting with a strong breeze at their backs, the opening half was a non-event for Derry who looked miles off their Donegal opponents. More bizarrely still, the 'Green & Black' seldom looked to use the wind to kick for territory and were fortunate to turn around only 5-14 behind against a Letterkenny team for whom former Derry man Adam Marley, out-half Peter Scott and centre Daniel Faulkner were excellent in an impressive overall team display.

Indeed when Marley forced his way over for a try only four minutes after the restart, adding to first half efforts from Cody Laverty and Ben Scott, you would have got very short odds on Letterkenny going on to secure their bonus point and Derry suffering a heavy defeat.

The fact the home side didn't was the only positive of the afternoon with Cathal Cregan, Mark Scott and Gary McKinley some of the few shining lights.

Derry deserve credit for they way they regrouped second half though their cause was helped by yellow cards for Scott and Ralph Mealiff, both for deliberate knock-ons, and Ciaran Clarke for a high tackle. Those decisions pushed the door ajar and for a period an unlikely win looked possible but it would have been papering over the cracks.

Letterkenny were the better side and Derry got what their first half display deserved. The home cause wasn't helped though by an opening 20 minutes that saw Derry lose both No. 8 Isaiah Morris and opening try scorer David Lapsley, the latter forced off in line with head injury protocols after a nasty clash with Letterkenny's Dafydd Green.

With Lapsley's fellow centre David Graham already missing the game, it left a big hole in the home attack, a hole that was filled admirably by back row Mark Scott who switched to centre and performed superbly; but Derry's disjointed opening half really left them too much to do.

Derry began on the back foot despite having the win at their backs and it was little surprise when former Judges Road scrum half Jamie Millar's break laid the foundations for Laverty to score and Peter Scott to kick a wonderful conversion into the swirling breeze.

Derry's response was their best move of the match, one that saw full-back Chris McCandless' break stopped on the left before the ball was worked right again for Alex McDonnell's 'miss pass' to provide the opportunity for Lapsley to duck between defenders and run in a brilliant try for 5-7 with only 15 minutes gone.

It would be Lapsley's last significant contribution and his ability to open things up was badly missed. Indeed from the same attack that had seen the collision, Letterkenny went through the phases again to eventually force Ben Scott over for a 5-14 lead in the 25th minute.

Derry were playing second fiddle but even still they could have snatched an undeserved second try of the game on the stroke of half-time when a rare attack saw good line-out ball secured and Letterkenny wobbling. However, with three men free on the blindside, the Derry attack moved right and into the visitors' defensive numbers and a great chance was gone.

Home hopes were dealt what looked a terminal blow on 44 minutes when Peter Scott's run took the visitors deep into Derry territory from where Marley eventually forced his way over following a further five phases.

And that seemed to be that until the 61st minute brought that first Letterkenny yellow. Within 60 seconds Derry took advantage as McKinley's initial break took his team inside the visitors '22 from where McDonnell's pass released Cole to score. With McDonnell converting, Derry were suddenly back in it at 12-24.

Mealiff's yellow then arrived just seven minutes later and three minutes after that Mark Grant was running in to really put the Derry cat amongst Letterkenny's pigeons. It secured a losing bonus point but there would be no comeback.

To their credit Derry didn't stop the chase but just as they had first half, decent field position and promising attacks were often ruined by poor decision making or kicking the ball away when it should've been kept in hand. They might have legitimate concerns at only two added minutes in a game which had see a couple of lengthy stops but Letterkenny deserved their win, even if Adam Bratton and Richard McCarter will have concerns at how their team allowed Derry back into a match they were in full control over and really should have taken a winning bonus point from.

The defeat leaves Derry eighth in the 10 team Championship Two and with plenty of work to do in 2026!

City of Derry: Tom Cameron, Cathal Cregan, Nathan Campbell, Gary McKinley, Reuben Loughery, Tiarnan Dillon, Mark Scott, Isaiah Morris, Andrew Millar, Alex McDonnell, Mark Grant, Josh Cole, David Lapsley, Sam Milligan, Chris McCandless. (Replacements) Ryan Higgins, Matthew McMonagle, Greg Parkhill.

Letterkenny: David Brown, Ross Harkin, Adam Marley, Jack Sayers, Jack Kennedy, Ben Scott, Mark Miller, Jack Speer, Jamie Millar, Peter Scott, Ralph Mealiff, Cody Laverty, Daniel Faulkner, Darragh McConnell, Jordan Mealiff. (Replacements) Gareth Duncan, Ciaran Clarke, Dafydd Green.

Referee: Matthew Shields