Seapoint edge Derry out to move top of the league

CITY of Derry's meeting with Seapoint in Killiney represented a meeting of second against third in AIL Division Three and the proximity of the teams in the table was reflected in events on the pitch.

In the end the Foylesiders were narrowly defeated a titanic struggle of commitment with rugby of the highest quality despite the strong arctic wind sweeping in from the Glen of the Downs. The result sees Seapoint on top of the league two points ahead of Derry and Instonians who had their fixture postponed.

The early pressure came from the visitors with good driving play form backs and forwards carrying the game to Seapoint. The Derry back row of Richard Baird, Tom Patton and Stephen Ferguson were carrying ball at every opportunity and the tackle count was high form Seapoint. The intensity from both teams showed how much they wanted the result with the physicality that was being brought to the game. Andrew Semple was having an outstanding game for Derry pulling the strings as Derry pressed forward with wave after wave of attack; Semple exploited the power of Bob McKillop, Sam McAuley, David Witherow, Chris Cooper and Sam Duffy all of whom looked hungry for work.

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As the first half progressed and Seapoint struggled to get out of their half. Stephen Walsh the Seapoint wing forward was penalised on twenty minutes for killing the ball and Richard Peoples defied the conditions to slot over an excellent penalty from 35 metres to give Derry a 3-0 advantage.

The Derry forwards continued to dominate, it was difficult to move the ball far from the breakdown but on the rare occasions that Derry got the ball out to the wide channels they looked dangerous. Ryan Campbell and David Funston worked an opening for full-back Peter Henderson following good work by William McCleery on 30 minutes. Henderson chipped the ball cleverly behind the defence but could not get the touchdown before the ball narrowly went dead.

The constant pressure from Derry told again in the 38th minute when Richard Peoples and Simon Logue combined to get in behind the Seapoint defence when the hosts were subsequently caught offside Peoples obliged with another penalty for a six point lead. Seapoint kicked off and won possession and for the first time in the game got inside the Derry 22 metre line.

After a series of phases Derry's David Witherow picked the ball in a ruck facing his own goal 15 metres out but the referee gave a penalty and a yellow card and on the stroke of half time Seapoint out half Keegan kicked a penalty to make it 6-3 for Derry at the break.

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The wind come the second half seemed to slightly favour Seapoint, but despite that and being a man short Derry dominated possession and territory and they probed for another score.

Derry were on the attack with 20 minutes gone but gave away a penalty inside the Seapoint half, the referee marched Derry back ten metres after mistakenly interpreting a Seapoint comment as coming from a Derry player. Keegan converted the penalty from the half way line to level the scores at 6-6.

Derry pressed for that elusive score that would give them victory and again had the lion's share of possession and territorial advantage. Simon Logue and Richard Peoples were having terrific games and were at the heart of everything as Derry continued to press.

Derry were on their twelfth phase of play inside the Seapoint 22 meter line on 30 minutes when they spilled ball in the tackle. Keegan was happy to boot the ball as far down the field as possible to relieve the relentless Derry pressure. Derry kicked for touch and Seapoint won possession and drove forward and from 25 metres drop goal specialist Keegan split the posts to give Seapoint a 9-6pts lead against the run of play.

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Derry now threw everything at Seapoint and probed for an opening from one side of the field to the other. Semple, Funston and Logue created a splendid chance for Henderson with five minutes remaining and as he sprinted in to score in the corner he was deprived by a hand trip from nowhere and the ball went into touch. Derry continued to mount the pressure and were awarded two penalties which they declined kick because of the wind.

Seapoint were out on their feet as Derry came forward with injury time approaching. Richard Baird, David Houston Bob McKillop along with Sam Duffy and David Witherow where throwing their bodies into the battle to break the Seapoint resistance.

The referee signalled a penalty in front of the posts 25 meters out in injury time to Derry but McAuley and his men were going for the jugular. Baird drove forward to a foot from the line under the posts, the ball was trapped in his arms in the tackle. The referee blew for a penalty to Seapoint to everyone's amazement, including the referee's assessor, and as the ball was kicked to touch the final whistle blew.

City of Derry Team v Seapoint David Witherow, Sam McAuley, Sam Duffy, Chris Cooper, Bob McKillop, Richard Baird, Tom Patton, Strephen Ferguson, Andrew Semple, Richard Peoples, William McCleery, David Funston, Ryan Campbell, Simon Logue, Peter Henderson.

Replacements: Stephen Duffy, David Houston, Robin Craig, Stuart Thompson, Josh Lewis.