City of Derry keen to settle score as Letterkenny visit Judges Road

The Donegal club, for whom former 'Green & Black' favourite Adam Bratton is Head Coach with fellow 'exiles' Richard McCarter and Neil Burns are backs coach and player-coach respectively, drew first blood last week with a last kick 13-10 victory in a match dictated by the inclement conditions.

The Judges Road men have their chance to set the record straight this weekend but having fallen behind in the Championship 2 mini-series, Beddow says the onus is on Derry to find a response.

"Speaking to Letterkenny after the game, they were delighted they got the victory," explained Beddow, "I think it was the first time the two clubs have ever played a competitive fixture. I also look at it - and I've mentioned this to the players - like Letterkenny might now be coming on Saturday with a little bit less pressure on them because they got their result at home. They've got their victory under their belts.

"So there's probably a bit more pressure on us to deliver something to try and even the score and make it 1-1. I wouldn't want it to be 2-0 and leave a feeling that they are a better club than Derry, but ultimately results dictate that. They probably believe they are a better team than us because they beat us on Saturday.

"Listen, the weather didn't enable either team to play a lot of rugby last week. There were very strong winds, heavy rain and I said to the boys in the circle afterwards I didn't think we did enough to win it; but I didn't think we deserved to lose it either.

"It was 10-10 with the last kick of the game to come which obviously they converted to get the victory but I would say had it finished 10-10, they wouldn't have had any arguments either, and nor would we."

If Derry are to turn the tables on Letterkenny they will have to do it without the services of David McMahon - who limped out of Saturday's game - and influential centre Davy Graham who is attending a family wedding. Ryan Higgins may come back in contention after injury for Beddow who said there was little for either team to take from last week's encounter.

"We reviewed the video on Tuesday with the boys and I thought we actually created more chances than I remembered when we were in the heat of the game," he added .

"And maybe (there was) a bit of inaccuracy too. I spoke to the referee at the end as he had missed a try we scored. He apologised because he got himself into a wrong position and couldn't award it.

"We knew in the weather conditions that it was a big moment but in saying that we still created plenty of other opportunities and didn't take them. It’s just one of those things.

"Going into this weekend, if we create as many opportunities we would like to think we would take more of them than we did last week. We were pleased defensively. I think at one time we defended 15 phases of play but again, the ball was not being spread wide by either team so it was quite easy to be defensively set up.

"There wasn't really a lot of expansive play from either team because you couldn't get the ball spread to either wing. The ball was usually breaking down in midfield for both teams. Look, I'll not take a lot from Saturday's game going into this weekend, especially if the weather is better and I can't imagine it will be any worse. Again, it’s a matter of us taking the opportunities if and when they arise."

The defeat in Donegal made it successive Championship Two defeats for City of Derry but unlike the reversal against Lisburn a fortnight ago, Beddow could see plenty of positives in Dave Gallagher Park.

"I don't think there was any lack of motivation last week. Compared to the Lisburn game two weeks ago, it was like a different team on the pitch; from commitment levels, from concentration levels, execution levels - it was so much better but again, I have to break it down into the fact that the weather played a major part for both teams, because Letterkenny weren't able to play their rugby either.

"So here's hoping this Saturday is a more open affair and we can come out on top," he added.