City of Derry hang on for dramatic league victory over Portadown

Portadown players halt City of Derry’s Jamie Millar yards from the line. Photo: George Sweeney

City of Derry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Portadown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22City of Derry Head Coach Richard McCarter admitted he was relieved to hear the final whistle as his team "hung on for grim death" to claim a dramatic 24-22 victory over Portadown at Judges Road on Saturday.

A brace of first half tries from Simon Logue plus one second half effort from David Lapsley appeared to have the 'Green & Black' on course for a comfortable and much needed victory when they led 24-10 with ten minutes remaining. However two quick Portadown tries on 74 and 76 minutes turned the game on its head and it took a heroic match winning tackle from that man Logue to deny the visitors their winner with in the fifth minute of injury time.

It was a finale that showed serious guts after last week's disappointment at bottom of the table Carrick and, once he'd caught his breath, McCarter emphasised the result was all important.

“After last week’s disappointment it was so important that we won today, no matter how we won,” explained McCarter. “ And we showed serious character and determination to hold on at the end there

City of Derry’s Simon Logue powers towards the line to score a first half try against Portadown. Photo: George Sweeney

“The tide had definitely turned in Portadown’s favour and it looked like we were hanging on for grim death. But thankfully Simon Logue put in an outrageous tackle in the corner at the very end and won us the game.”

There was little hint of the drama to follow with Derry 17-5 up at the break but Portadown, coached by McCarter's close friend and former Dungannon team-mate Mark Neilly, were always well in the game.

“We were pleased at half-time, even though we hadn’t hit top gear,” acknowledged the Derry Head Coach. “We were comfortable and defensively we were very organised. We were patient. We picked our moments and were clinical in attack.“I felt that would give us the confidence to kick on in the second half,” he continued, “But we didn’t really do that. I thought our second half performance was pretty average. That said, we scored at a good time. But we were hanging on there at the end.“We were gutted after last week. The standards and levels that we set were nowhere near good enough so we knew how vitally important it was to win here today.”

City of Derry: Fearghus Canning, Cathal Creggan, Sam Duffy, Gerard Doherty, Gary McKinley, Tiernan Thornton, Jake McDevitt, Stephen Corr, Jamie Millar, Alex McDonnell, Jack Beattie, Simon Logue, David Lapsley, Colm Creggan, Ross McLaughlin. (Replacements) Adam Marley, Dara Gill, Tiarnan Dillon