A long way home from Tipperary for chastened City of Derry

The famous Irish folk song entitled ‘It’s a long way to Tipperary’ isn’t wrong. There are 261 miles between the respective rugby clubs of Clonmel and City of Derry, but the journey home on Saturday evening must’ve felt doubled that distance for Paul O’Kane and his team as they fell to a chastening 28-point reverse.

In a game played in difficult conditions thanks to Storm Jorge, it was the home side, and particularly their pack, that were able to adapt to the conditions best. Time and time again they were able to break the gain line and with that bit more experience within their ranks, were also able to make better decisions. Derry though will point to the start of the second half as a turning point.

Playing into the storm force wind and two points in arrears, Derry took the game to their hosts, but a combination of a failure to punch a hole in the home defence and some poor decision making under pressure would prove to be their undoing. Clonmel made the most of the turnover and by the end of the third quarter they held a commanding 21-point lead.

Despite playing with the elements in the first half, Derry started the game on the back foot and Clonmel came twice to opening the scoring in the opening quarter. First it was ferocious Derry defending that held them up in the end zone before a knock-on came to Derry’s rescue.

On their first attack Derry took the lead when Thomas Cole touched down in the corner and it was just reward following their early defensive effort. The Derry forwards were able to suck in the home defence and when the backs got their hands on the ball, there was Cole on the overlap to run in an easy try.

The lead didn’t last long however as Luke Hogan was able to get the ball down under the posts. Despite kicking into a storm force wind, Dylan Cadogan kicked the extras and the home side held a slender two-point lead at half time.

The game was won and lost in the third quarter. Derry for all their possession in the opening exchanges of the second half couldn’t find a way through the home defence, and once they gifted the ball back to Clonmel, there was only going to be one winner.

Hooker, Dave O’Gorman, crashed over the whitewash on 55 minutes before two quick fire scores from centre Hogan put the result beyond doubt. To make matters worse David Graham became the second Derry player to pick up a yellow card after prop Warmerdam received a similar punishment in the first half.

The final score of the day arrived with 10 minutes left on the clock when Clonmel replacement, Keelan McDonald, took advantage of the extra space in the Derry backline to cross the line for the fifth try of the day.

Derry battled gamely to the end and hooker Cathal Cregan almost got through for a second Derry try but was denied a score by some last gasp defending.

In tough heavy conditions, it was a tough day at the office for the young Derry side.

With four games remaining it’s a result that leaves Derry sitting in eighth place in Division 2C but with others around them picking up points, it leaves no room for error in what Director of Rugby Paul O’Kane describes as ‘four cup finals.’

Clonmel RFC: N. Campion, D. O’Gorman, T. Cantwell, N. Melbourne, J. Gallagher, S. Doherty, D. Devaney, C. Burke, A. Sheehan, L. Noonan, C. Pearson, A.Daly, L. Hogan, G. Carroll (Capt), D. Cadogan. (Replacements) P. Ryan, B. O’Kelly, E. Phelan, I. Cunningham, K. McDonald.

City of Derry: J Hamilton, C. Cregan, Q. Warmerdam, G. Doherty, S. Kelly, R. Harkin, T. Thornton, R. Baird (Capt), S. Logue, A. McDonnell, T. Cole, D. Posternak, D. Lapsley, D. Graham, N. Burns. (Replacements) A. Marley, B. Laverty, C. McColgan, C. O’Hagan, M. Rankin.