Derry move into pole position

COACH Bevan Lynch paid tribute to Simon Logue after the young City of Derry winger scored four tries in an extraordinary display against Dubliners at Judges Road on Saturday.

Derry made it two wins from two on their return to the AIL, and while they began their home campaign with an emphatic win, all the talk was about the performance of Logue who score a personal tally of twenty points in a Man of the Match display.

This was as open a rugby game that Judges Road will see this year with fourteen tries in all but there was no doubting that Derry had the better of their Dublin opponents throughout, with Suttonians at times completely outplayed.

Afterwards Lynch played down his team's excellent start to the season but he will have been delighted with his team on Saturday; from Simon Logue, who scored four tries in a Man of the Match performance, to Sam McAuley who was again immense in the tackle, to Richard Peoples, who scored nine from ten conversions from some quite ridiculous angles.

Averaging a score every eight minutes, this was a fine display from Derry who played with the confidence of a team determined to secure their twelfth win on the spin.

The home side laid down a marker within the first ten minutes when Sam McAuley was unfortunate to have a try disallowed for a forward pass.

However, it was a statement of intent from Derry who were exposing Suttonians on the wings and it was no surprise when the first score came, Andrew Semple feeding Davy Houston for the first converted score of the day.

Suttonians, who up until this point had done nothing but defend, responded admirably, and brought the scores level almost immediately when their first attack of the game ended in a try for Ronan Murphy. Jamie Ward converted and it was all square at 7-7.

The Dubliners then wasted the chance to go ahead for the first time in the game when Ward missed a penalty, sending his kick badly wide as the half hour approached.

That moment proved to be the turning point in the game as Derry finished the first half in blistering fashion, scoring three tries in the space of six minutes to leave their opponents shell-shocked.

Firstly, Tom Patton and William McCleery combined brilliantly down the left wing, with the latter feeding the ball into Patton to complete an excellent score between the posts.

McCleery was then instrumental in Suttonians conceding possession when his tackle caused havoc in the visitor's ranks and after Semple had kicked forward, Logue simply outpaced the Suttonians defence to extend Derry's lead further.

Suttonians needed the half time whistle but Derry were not done yet and just seconds before the break, Logue scored his second and Derry's fourth try, more precise passing from the home side cutting the visitor's apart allowing the winger to extend Derry' lead to 28-7 at the break.

Crucially, the home side did not rest on their laurels upon the restart and with Suttonians still trying to get a foot hold back into the game, Semple raced clear for Derry's fifth try just two minutes in. And with Peoples conversion faultless, Derry looked home and dry already with a 35-7 lead.

Suttonians to their credit did attempt a comeback and they reduced the deficit by one score when Philip Dwane scored, but it was a rare blot on a fine day for Derry, who were incessant.

Following more pressure on Suttonians, Bob McKillop produced a superbly disguised pass for Semple who raced clear for his second score, and with People's conversion, Derry led 42-14 with less than an hour played.

A rare error from Semple then let Murphy in for his second score but Peter Henderson restored the smile on Derry faces with a great individual effort just after the hour to restore Derry's advantage at 49-21.

It was unusual that Henderson had not got on the score sheet before then, but the prolific Derry man then went and made it two tries in three minutes when he raced clear to score his second and Derry's eighth try of the afternoon.

The points were safely Derry's at this stage but Suttonians made sure that they at least had a bonus point from their trip when Philip Dwane score the all important fourth try.

However, the final stages of Saturday's game were all about Simon Logue who completed his hat trick with ten minutes remaining, taking the score to 63-28.

It was a fine personal achievement from Logue, but he was far from finished and he took his tally to four when h received a pass from Patton before throwing himself contentedly over the line to complete a fine day's work for the young winger.

People's missed his first conversion with the last kick of the game but this was job done for City of Derry and emphatically so.

City of Derry: Peter Henderson, Jack Caithness, Simon Logue, Ryan Campbell, William McCleery, Richard Peoples, Andrew Semple, David Witherow, Sam McAuley, Sam Dufy, David Houston, Bob McKillop, Stephen Corr, Stephen Sims, Tom Patton.

Suttonians: David Farrell, Darragh Mulligan, Ronan Murphy, Alan Dodd, David Walsh, Jamie Ward, Darren Wickham, Adrian Hoary, Damian Lambert, Neil Griseto, Ken Bracken, Cathal Murphy, Ian Whittington, Philly Dwane, Richard Delaney.