Understrength City of Derry no match for title chasing Ballyclare

City of Derry 19, Ballyclare 61

Billed by the Championship One table as second versus third, Derry's recent injury woes all but ensured a routine victory for recently crowned Irish Junior Cup winners, Ballyclare, at Judges Road on Saturday.

With Head Coach Richard McCarter out of the country, forwards coach Chris Cooper took charge for a game that was tantamount to a 'free hit' for the understrength 'Green and Black' who were always going to be up against it facing the promotion chasing Antrim side. And Ballyclare fully justified their favourites' tag with some lovely territorial rugby mixed nicely with a fluent running game, though the Derry frustration will be they handed out two or three very soft tries at crucial junctures when well in the contest.

Ballyclare didn't need the helping hand and had their bonus point wrapped up by the break, this despite an excellent opening quarter from the home side who ran the ball at every opportunity and asked plenty of questions of the visitors' defence.

There were hat-tricks on each side, Conor Cummings continuing to enhance his reputation with a performance that brought his tally to four tries in two games for Derry; while Ballyclare hooker Matthew Coulter was three times the beneficiary of a strong driving maul set-piece.

Ballyclare fully deserved their five points but it was a result dictated by the respective team sheets, the only real home complaint the lack of a try scoring bonus point they certainly deserved. Yet even that would have been academic with the Antrim side crossing the whitewash nine times.

It had all started so well for Derry, sustained home pressure seeing them go through plenty of phases before the ball was eventually switched right where a Gerard Doherty drive opened up the opportunity for Killene Thronton to play in Cummings who scored in the corner. With Alex McDonnell nailing a difficult conversion Derry had a seven point lead inside 10 minutes.

But then the inexperience kicked in. When they needed to slow the game down and secure possession, Derry were loose and Ballyclare eventually forced Coulter over under the posts with Matthew McDowell's kick levelling things only three minutes after Derry's opener. Better still for Ballyclare they were in front five minutes later through winger Owen Kirk’s try.

That sea change knocked Derry's confidence but they were still well in the game until a defensive mix up between Jack Beattie and Killene Thornton – the pair clashing as both chased a kick – handed Jack Gamble a gift of a run in and Ballyclare a 7-19 lead.

Two further tries in the final 10 minutes of the half put the game to bed as a contest and, again, both were avoidable from a home perspective. A Ballyclare knock-on was missed before they were awarded the line-out from which another maul drive put Coulter over for his second but worse followed for Derry when they were punished for a high tackle on half-way seconds later. As Derry argued, Ballyclare played on with Gamble waltzing over to leave it 7-33 at the break.

Two more tries within 10 minutes of the restart merely reinforced the visitors' dominance but credit Derry they continued to battle and rallied through two more Cummings tries, the second after superb work by Killene Thornton from inside his own '22. Picking up a loose Ballyclare pass, the full-back accelerated before feeding Cummings and looping back around to accept the return. Kicking ahead Thornton gathered, drew the cover and then released Cummings once again to score in the corner. Wonderful stuff.

That third Cummings try arrived with still 10 minutes on the clock and Derry pushed for a fourth but the chances they took left gaps for Ballyclare to exploit and twice more the visitors crossed the Derry line. That was academic to the home cause but in a title chase as tight as the Championship One is at present, those points could yet prove crucial to the visitors.

Derry won't be overly concerned about the result although a shoulder injury for Gary McKinley will cause some concern. There were some positives, Cummings looking well capable of making an impact at this level again while Killene Thornton, first half mix-up aside, continues to thrill every time he has the ball in hands.

The mixture of new combinations across the 15 coupled with inexperience meant Derry were always going to be susceptible at the back and Ballyclare are too good a team not to take advantage. They had the game won from a long way out.

The result leaves Ballyclare free to battle it out with Enniskillen for the league title but that was almost a formality even pre-kick off, and the league's top two will meet in their own Junior Cup quarter-final next weekend.

For Derry, even before a ball was kicked this afternoon, the focus was on next week's home quarter-final against Ballymoney and that remains the case. It's in the cup that Derry will define their season.

City of Derry: Fearghus Canning, Cathal Cregan, Adam Marley, Gerard Doherty, Cein McColgan, Alan Thomas Mason, Aaron Deery, Gary McKinley, Jamie Millar, Alex McDonnell, Jack Beattie, Tiernan Thornton, David Lapsely, Conor Cummings, Killene Thornton. (Replacements) Tom Cameron, Gareth Duncan, Colm Cregan.

Ballyclare: Dean Jones, Matthew Coulter, Richard Lutton, David Gillespie, Grant Bartley, Aaron Playfair, Owen Warren, Jack Gamble, Ryan McIlwaine, Alex Darragh, Peter Gillespie, Matthew McDowell, Joel McBride, Owen Kirk, Mark Jackson. (Replacements) Adam Barron, Bryn McCallan, James Creighton.