Senior Cup Semi-Final
Ballynahinch 19 City Of Derry 14 (John Dickson reports from Ballymacarn Park).
When the draw was made for the semi-final of the First Trust Ulster Senior Cup there were anxious nods amongst the Ballynahinch contingent, as City of Derry at Ballymacarn Park had proved to be a banana skin for the Hinch men in the past.
This year was no different as the Hinch side snatched victory from the brink of defeat with a dramatic counterattack in the final play of a very tense and hard fought game. If truth be told, the men from the Maiden City were robbed having fought back so well to take full control of the game in the final 10 minutes.
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HInch battle against the City of Derry in a close match.[/caption]
In excellent conditions and wearing a red change of jersey, the County Down side played towards the clubhouse in the first half. The Hinch side settled first, playing controlled rugby they managed to take play through phases to put sustained pressure on the Derry defence, and by the end of the first quarter Chris Quinn had landed three penalty goals in the 5th, 13th and 19th minutes, giving the Hinch a comfortable 9-0 lead. In the 27th minute Hinch had a the first opportunity to score a try, but after making a great break fullback Stephen McCauley passed outside into the hands of a Derry player.
Andrew Semple opened the visitor’s account in the 31st minute after James Simpson entered a ruck from the side. 9-3. In the final 10 minutes of the first half the visitors started to move the ball well with Ritchie McCarter and Andrew Semple looking very sharp. Hinch wing Chris Quinn received a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on in the 33rd minute as he attempted an intercept.
Down to 14 men the home side struggled to handle the Derry attack, and Michael Graham was caught offside in the 36th minute. Semple added the three points to close the gap to 9-6 at halftime.
When the second half got underway McCarter and Sample used their kicking game to keep the Hinch pinned deep in their half of the field where the home side found it impossible to escape.
In the 51st minute the visitors took the lead after they stretched the Hinch defence wide, creating room for wing William McCauley to fend off Stephen McCauley and dive in at the corner flag for a well worked try. Semple failed to convert to leave his side with a 9-11 lead.
It took almost 20 minutes of the second half for the Hinch to finally get themselves into the Derry half where they began to put some phases together winning another penalty for offside, which Quinn dispatched in the 60th minute to taking the Hinch side back into the lead 12-11. Good work from Kyle McCall and Jonny Murphy help set up another Hinch attack just short of the Derry line, however the visitor’s defence was a match and no further points were added.
As the home side looked as if they would cling on for a single point victory, the Derry men lifted their game once more. Poor discipline from Paul Pritchard in the 69th gifted a good penalty opportunity to Semple, and he put the ball between the uprights for 12-14 lead.
Now with the advantage again the Derry men took control of the game, Ritchie McCarter and Andrew Semple kicking accurately to play all the rugby in the Hinch 22. Semple missed two further shots at goal as the Hinch struggled to handle a very committed Derry attack.
The scoreboard clock on the clubhouse wall confirmed normal time was up, and then referee Peter Martin indicated that 3 minutes of injury time remained to be played.
As the seconds ticked away the Hinch were stuck deep in their 22. The dramatic twist on the final play, started with Richard Reaney and Chris Quinn setting off on a counterattack from the Hinch line. Running down the left wing Quinn cut inside to link well with James McBriar who was tackled by Stephen Ferguson in front of the Derry posts. The quick ball was zipped to the right where Hinch had men over, James Simpson taking the tackle before putting Stephen McCauley clear to score in the corner. Quinn added the extras from the touchline to secure a dramatic 19-14 victory and claim a place in the First Trust Ulster Senior Cup Final against Malone at the Kingspan Stadium, Belfast.
City of Derry coach Mark Nicholl was very disappointed and said: “I am very, very disappointed to lose that game in the last minute. I thought we, for most of the game, were the better side out there today. Ritchie McCarter coming back in, and Andrew Semple, they did very well. Andrew has been an outstanding scrum half for years, and it baffles me why he cannot get himself into Ravens, let alone the Ulster squad at the minute, he proved there today he is a class act.
“We talked about not giving away penalties when under pressure, I would rather they kicked the ball out on the full, but look, it was an elementary error and it is just very disappointing for the players, the cup final was one of our aims for this year.
“Hinch and Derry are always tight games, even last year it was 23-17, and it was a game we felt we should have won, just like today, so it very disappointing from our prerogative not to be in the final, but congratulations to the Hinch and I hope they go all the way.”
Hinch coach Derek Suffern admitted that his side had got a “Get Out Of Jail Free Card” and said, “Get Out Of Jail Free Card – big time, a game that City Of Derry dominated outside of our scrum, lineout and maul which all worked well, but all round Derry were excellent, they dominated territory and possession, their kicking game was very good and they probably fully deserved to win the game to be brutally honest.
“We made a good start and made a few line breaks and possibly forced things a bit. Close to their line their defence was very good, we couldn’t break them down, we have always said that Derry is a top-side, their individuals are fantastic, there are names on that team that could easily play 1A for us, no bother at all.
“I suppose it is tough to be emotional because you are driven by a performance, and you are very unhappy with your team’s performance. I suppose a huge positive is, I don’t see too many other teams being able to produce a score like that in the final seconds from your own line, the multi-skills that we showed to score that try was phenomenal, and I suppose I am happy to get into the cup final, but brutally disappointed with the performance.”
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