Another bonus point success for Lynch's side

City of Derry...38Ballymoney...13

CITY of Derry rugby club welcomed Ballymoney to Judges Road on Saturday. Once again they needed to win and score four tries in the process. The quest for the Ulster Qualifying League Title demanded it to stay in sync with they rivals Armagh.

Ballymoney were always going to prove that their position of third in the league table was well deserved.

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They did not disappoint, especially with a first half display that had the Derry supporters on tenterhooks as they held a 6-0 lead going into the thirty fifth minute of the first half.

There was always going to be a special edge to this game. Ballymoney had two former City of Derry players from last season in their ranks; Danny Platt in the second row and Aaron Ramage at loose head prop.

Add the inspirational experienced Jason Tagger to the Toon mix and serious questions of City of Derry's resolve to dig deep for the requisite victory would be asked.

Ballymoney took the game to Derry early and possession was shared as the first half progressed. Derry were forced to defend on their own line. Had it not been for superb patience and a well-drilled defensive system the visitors could have well been ahead by the time James Cleland converted their first penalty on thirty minutes. Cleland added to Toon's advantage five minutes later with another well struck penalty.

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Derry suddenly clicked into their stride. Captain Bob McKillop drove forward and was held up ten meters from the line. The ball was moved to centre David Funston who opened the scoring for Derry with a try. Out half Mark O'Connor converted.

The genie was out of the bottle and it was suddenly all Derry. Play was brought inside the Ballymoney twenty two meter line and Derry produced an overlap. When Andrew Semple fed O'Connor, he picked out Simon Logue.

The try was on and Logue obliged. Mark O'Connor converted to give Derry a 14 points to 6 points lead at half time.

City of Derry's confidence was high going into the second half. Derry set about dismantling Ballymoney with a ruthless efficiency. Man of the Match, Stephen Simms was everywhere for Derry and was playing his best game for some time. Three minutes in the impressive Sam McAuley stole possession in midfield and allowed O'Connor to kick forward. The Ballymoney backs made a meal of the clearance and Jared Bennett stole in to chase down his own kick and score Derry's third try.

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The elusive fourth try looked a certainty when Bob McKillop drove forward from his own half. He drove on to the Ballymoney 22m line on an iconic run that struck fear into the opposition. More importantly he was inspirational to his own players. The resulting scrum saw Stephen Corr pick and drive McKillop like for the line and fed Andrew Semple who scored a memorable unconverted try. This was game over.

With the bonus point in the bag Derry drove forward for more. On 55 minutes they scored a fifth try. Funston secured possession, Sam Duffy played scrum half and fed Semple. He missed out a couple of players with a floated pass to set up full back Peter Henderson for another flowing Derry score. Another O'Connor conversion gave Derry a 33-6 lead.

Derry's sixth try arrived on the hour courtesy of Cathal Cregan. He put in an assured performance since replacing the unfortunate Witherow. The young hooker finished off a driving forward move after Derry had gone through the gears inside the visitors 22.

Despite O'Connor striking the post with the conversion, Derry's dominance was now being translated onto the scoreboard at 38-6.

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Ballymoney did grab a late consolation try through Chris Watson after Cregan had been very harshly sin-binned. Along with Cleland's conversion, it was too little, too late.

City of Derry: David Witherow, Sam McAuley, Sam Duffy, David Houston, Bob McKillop, Karl Gemmell, Stephen Sims, Stephen Corr, Andrew Semple, Mark O'Connor, Josh Lewis, Jared Bennett, David Funston, Simon Logue, Peter Henderson. Subs: Cathal Cregan, Mark Walker.

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