Late try knocks City of Derry out of Towns' Cup at Ballymena

Ballymena IIs 23, City of Derry 21

City of Derry suffered Towns' Cup heartbreak at Eaton Park on Saturday as Ballymena Seconds grabbed a last play, injury time try to send the Judges Road men tumbling out of the competition.

Having played second best for much of an opening half in which three Alex McDonnell penalties kept them in touch at 12-9, Richard McCarter's men took charge of the second period, scoring tries through David Lapsley and Conor Cummings to lead 21-18 as the clock hit 80 minutes. However, a late scrum penalty allowed the home side to kick for the corner and while Derry initially defended well, a quick reverse saw them caught short on the blind side and Ballymena were in at the corner. The conversion was missed but there wasn't even enough time to restart.

"Defeats are never easy but Saturday was an absolute stomach churner. It was a tough one to take," admitted McCarter, who was without several key players for the tie.

"The first half definitely belonged to Ballymena. Without them being overly dominant, they were definitely the better team. It took us to the 30th minute to get inside their '22' but we hung in really well in the first half with Alex keeping the scoreboard ticking over. We were pretty happy at half-time to be only three points down because we literally hadn't fired a shot."

Despite the result, McCarter was happy with much of what he saw from his much changed team but admitted the ‘Green and Black’ now facing a test of character as they search for a first win of 2024. Next up is a home meeting with title chasing Ballyclare in two weeks time before a huge Junior Cup tie against Ballymoney.