Skins battle all the way in City defeat

Editorial Department • Published 18 Feb 2010 11:26 0 Comments

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Enniskillen 1st XV 5; City of Derry 1st XV 34;

It may have been a 34-5 defeat but Enniskillen 1st XV produced a really determined effort in losing to City of Derry. As such then, the performance will have done no harm at all as Skins prepare for their big Towns' Cup quarter-final encounter away to Donaghadee on Saturday.

Indeed, the better form of recent weeks will mean that Skins will approach the game in a postive frame of mind with the team now seven points clear of the relegation places in Qualifying League Section One. On Saturday they face section two side Donaghadee who have won seven of their ten league games this season and currently sit fourth in that table. Skins know though that if they play well, then a last four place is well within their grasp.

Skisn suffered a big reversals to City of Derry last year and it did not look good again this time around when the The omens did not look good right from the opening kick-off as the visitors pummelled the 'Skins line, eventually game's opening try came after five minutes, an effort that was converted from wide out.

Worse was to follow as City of Derry, chasing a bonus point win to keep in touch with leaders Armagh, increased their lead after fourteen when a missed tackle in midfield put the visitors on the front foot, and they managed to cross the line despite what looked an obvious knock-on to lead 12-0.

However, a resolute Skins were not ready to roll over and started to take the game to their opponents.

They got their reward after 26 minutes. A fine break by James Carleton took play close to the City of Derry line and two phases of play later, Chris Dickey came off his wing to burst over the line and score, reducing the scoreline to 5 - 12, and thus it remained until half-time.

The second half brought four tries for the visitors, one in injury time at the end of the game, but Skins never let the heads drop and continued to compete for every ball, despite not getting the rub of the green on any marginal decisions from a whistle happy official.

It would be unfair to pick out any individual as all 17 put everything into the game and will deserve a few days rest to nurse the assorted bumps, bruises and strains before picking up the gauntlet again in training this week ahead of the Towns' Cup quarter final tie at Donaghadee on Saturday.

With that game and some big league encounters to follow Skins need to show that the performance against City of Derry was not a one-off, and display the same desire against teams who do not possess the quality that the North-West side has.

Team: D Watson, R Cathcart, G Beatty, M O'Callaghan, R Crawford, D Buchanan, J Carleton, G Hall (capt), R Connor, K Hurst, C Dickey, A Wilkinson, J van Biljon, M Law, M O'Shea. Subs: G Warrington, A Duncan.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 18 Feb 10

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