Fellow title contender coming to Judges Road

The two sides come to the game unbeaten and they along with Queens and Ballymena who also play one another this weekend are the only four teams in the league still to taste defeat.

Derry and Naas have played one another four times over the years at Judges Road, Nass won in season 2007-2008 and Derry were relegated from senior rugby.

The Judges Road men were back up in AIL Division 3 after being promoted in season 2010-2011 and revenged their previous defeat with a 58-6 victory and this time Derry were promoted to AIL 2A with Naas finishing twelfth in the league.

Naas were promoted to AIL 2A last season when they finished third in AIL 2B and they defeated Greystones who finished third from bottom of AIL 2A in a playoff to replace them at the higher level.

The visitors have had a surprising start to the current season when they went to the Mardyke, Cork in their first game and defeated UCC 28-22.

Then at home they defeated Cashel who were pressing for a bonus point victory at 23-18 in front with two minutes to go.

But Naas turned over possession and their full back David Ahern hacked the ball down field and passed to centre Henry Bryce to score a try to level the scores and with Ahern converting a great victory was sealed by 25-23.

Mark Nicholl’s side have had two good AIL success so far with a bonus point victory at home to Rainey and a hard fought victory away to Barnhall where they had to come from behind to claim victory in the final 15 minutes of the game to gain a deserved 23-18 success.

Since then Derry scored an astounding 76-0 victory over Dungannon at home in the Ulster Senior League and they went down to Dungannon last Saturday and came away with a narrow 7-3 win to progress to the semi-final of the Ulster Senior Cup.

Derry will have benefited from their physical encounter at Stevenson Park last Saturday and that is what they expected because a wounded animal in his own lair is a dangerous species.

Naas have proven this season so far that they can compete up front with a strong scrum and good lineout as they did against Cashel.

They also have a decent back line with pace and any turn over ball will be used quickly to capitalise on their speed out wide.

The visitiors also have a proven kicker in David Ahern who will punish penalties conceded as he scored 18 points against UCC and kicked one from the half way line.

City of Derry Head Coach Mark Nicholl will be happy going into the game with almost a complete squad to pick from.

The teams form has been good and they are now capable of winning ugly if they have to. The team completely dominated Dungannon again last Saturday as they owned the ball for the last 60 minutes of the game but weather conditions limited scoring opportunities.

With the four top unbeaten teams having a shot out against one another this Saturday a win is vital for the Judges Road men to stay at the top of the table but Nicholl and his players know that Naas will be a tough nut to crack.

Nevertheless if the Judges Road out-fit have serious thoughts of trying to claim the Ulster Bank AIL Division 2A championship then they need to see off their fellow title rivals, particularly when they have home advantage.

One man who the home side will be hoping he continues his recent form is last weekend’s man of the match Richard Baird.

Another man who has featured prominently recently is Simon Logue, his try at Dungannon secured victory last weekend.

Meanwhile City of Derry Seconds are on the road on Saturday as they travel to face Dungannon II, the Thirds host Queens III in the league. Mini Rugby returns on Saturday with training taking place at Judges Road from 9.30am until 11am.