City of Derry's cup frustration must drive us for next season says Richard McCarter

The Fermanagh men withstood an early home barrage at Judges Road before ripping up the script with a couple of tries on their way to an 18-0 lead that left McCarter's side with too much to do. The 'Green and Black' did their best to pull off an unlikely recovery and had David Lapsley's excellent run been finished off by Davy Graham with five minutes left, it may just have been possible.

As it was, the chance to bring it back to a one score game was lost on a day that felt like one long missed opportunity for Derry with Enniskillen holding on for a deserved 24-12 victory.

"We just didn't take our chances," lamented McCarter, "We were totally dominated in the opening 10 or 15 minutes and it felt like we needed to score but we didn't. We missed a couple of big opportunities and I genuinely think that had we taken one of them it would have settled us and we would have gone on to win it.

"We didn't score and in typical fashion, the first time Enniskillen ventured into our '22' they scored. Unfortunately after that we were always playing catch up. We were 18-0 down not long into the second half and had no option then but to just go for it.

"It was a massive crowd and there were nerves before the game so it really would have helped us if we'd scored early. It would also have made Enniskillen a bit jittery but because they weathered that early storm and scored with basically their first attack, it reversed the game and gave them the boost.

"That said, we have no real complaints. It was a missed opportunity but our discipline let us down. We gave away far too many penalties, got on the wrong side of the referee and missed chances at big moments."

The irony of both teams scoring two tries apeice - Simon Logue and Jake McDevitt the Derry scorers - was not lost on McCarter.

"It was hugely frustrating but that group of players have never been in a cup semi-final," he explained, "Enniskillen have been to a few finals over the last few years so maybe that experience stood to them. We have to see this as a learning curve because in big matches you have to take your chances.

"You have to maintain discipline and stop giving away easy three points because that was the story of the game. Both teams scored two tries but they kicked four penalties which made the difference. It's disappointing because it was a big opportunity to get to a final but it is what it is and we have to learn from it."

Semi-final defeat was not the planned end to a season during which Derry improved week on week, something that offers McCarter plenty of hope for next season.

"With Clogher getting promoted, next season will be tough again, but we've a bit of an eye on the league now. We know what to expect and there are three or four competitions we can really attack. If we an play with the consistency we have shown from the end of November, I'm pretty sure we will be involved in more semi-finals.

"At the moment it's still a bit raw. I don't want to to be too negative though because the effort the boys put in since the end of November has been superb and it shouldn't be clouded by one afternoon.

"I think once the hurt wears off, it will make the players hungrier to be involved in more games like that again," he added, "Definitely at this level there are competitions you can target. That's the difference between junior rugby and senior rugby, you don't really get those opportunities in senior rugby.

"Hopefully it drives the boys on because it's important to stick together and build on the second half of the season. We want to keep this squad together, maybe add where we can, and then really attack it from the first week next season."