AIL Division 2B
City of Derry v Dungannon
Saturday, 2.30pm, Judges Road
By Steven Doherty
CITY of Derry entertain Dungannon at Judge’s Road on Saturday, and following last week’s shock defeat at Greystones, winger Simon Logue has stated Derry must ‘ruthless’ this weekend.
High-flying Derry had their wings clipped last Saturday, suffering an 18-11 loss, and while that represented only the league leaders’ second defeat this season, Logue has warned against complacency.
“It’s a matter of getting back on the horse” Logue told the Derry News. “We need to focus on implementing our own game plan. It’s a big week at training and it’s a matter of get ready for Saturday. The teams in second, third and fourth are chasing hard on us now. We’ve only a few games left and we have a bit of a buffer but we can’t afford to slip up any more or we could find ourselves in a play-off situation. There’s no room for complacency, we have to be ruthless.”
The 25 year old put down last week’s surprise defeat to a lapse in concentration. “It was a case of losing a bit of focus. We did take the chances that were presented to us. We were in the game alright. They were fired up and started the game well. They’ve come off the back of a couple of winds and thought they would catch us cold. After that we got back into the game but we switched off and they got a score. We butchered a few chances to be honest, although I sneaked in at the corner.”
Logue was on the scoresheet himself last week and also crossed the line when the two sides met earlier in the season at Stevenson Park. The City of Derry coach pulled out of Dungannon that evening in fine fettle with maximum points following a five-try 37-25 victory.
It was an impressive first half performance which laid the foundations for that victory, with Terry McMaster’s side building a 23-6 interval lead before three tries from Dungannon made for a much closer second 40 minutes from the hosts.
Full-back Alistair Beckett, who had been an injury doubt going into the game, produced a superb first half solo try - a mazy run taking him past a number of challenges and in for a memorable score which Burns converted for 13-3.
Dungannon had a man sin-binned and Derry made the extra man count as Neil Brown and Simon Logue scored excellent tries on 22 and 30 minutes to put Derry in a commanding position. With the half ending 23-6, Derry were in the ascendency.
Dungannon coach, Andy Hughes, undoubtedly had a few choice words for his team at half-time as the second half witnessed a much improved home display but Derry were always in control.
Tries from the two Davids - Graham and Funston in the second half confirmed the bonus point win for Derry.
Dungannon have been in bad shape since. Last week’s mid-Ulster derby against Rainey Old Boys failed to beat the weather, and prior to that the Tyrone men have been unable to buy a win. Consecutive defeats at the hands of Barnhall, Bective Rangers and Sunday’s Well have left the Stevenson Park outfit languishing in the bottom of the table. Indeed you have to back to November to find their last victory when the outscored Bective Rangers 33-27.
2015/16 has been a terrific season to be wearing the green and black of Derry. Logue, in particular, is enjoying his time back on the pitch having completely written off the 2014/15 due to injury. Eight months inactivity can seem like an eternity to man who lives for the oval ball game. City of Derry struggled last year with the non-flying winger helpless on the sidelines with his crutches only fit to watch as Derry stuttered towards relegation. An horrific leg break and ankle ligament damage in a meaningless pre-season friendly with Ballymena has, however, certainly fuelled his appetite for the new season.
“Obviously the leg break is always in the back of my mind. At the same time I try not to think about it in the heat of the battle. I like to think I’ve got near enough full fitness; it’s just a matter of getting game time as the season progresses.
“With the boys struggling last year and not able to help was hard to take. But it’s great to be back out again this year and helping the team get the job done. Hopefully that means promotion or winning the league. We’re flying high at the minute. Everyone wants to lower our colours. It’s a great bunch of boys at Derry at the minute and it’s really enjoyable about the club at the minute. It’s always nice when you’re winning and we’re top of the league. We want to remain unbeaten for the remainder of the season and get automatic promotion. That was our goal at the start of the season.”
Saturday is derby day down Judges Road. Back to his scintillating best, the 25 year old try machine is certainly not taking Dungannon for granted. “With them in a relegation dog fight they will be hungry for points. With a derby all form goes out the window. It’s about hunger, and who wants it on the day. We did beat them down there but although it was close on the scoreboard I think we took the foot off the pedal and the final score flattered them a bit.”
City of Derry have had the upper hand in fixture against Dungannon over the last few seasons.
If they want that run to continue they’ll have to be, as Simon Logue say, ruthless.
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