BY RYAN FERRY
LETTERKENNY Rugby Club men’s team recorded a famous win over City of Derry last week and they are hoping to repeat the dosage this weekend when the sides clash once more.
City of Derry are a club with pedigree having previously played in the AIL.
They aren’t operating at that level anymore but are still a formidable side and came to Dave Gallaher Memorial Park last week intent on claiming a derby victory.
However, Letterkenny came away with a 13-10 win and captain Daniel Faulkner was pleased with the application of his team in front of a vocal home support.
“It was a big occasion for the club but we were quite keen just to keep the focus on it being another game of rugby.
“We have been playing quite well recently so we just really wanted to build on that and get another win on board and try and keep the emotions in check somewhat.
“I think the boys all did that quite well.
“The game probably didn’t work out in the way that anyone expected. The weather wasn’t really the best for running rugby so it was real ‘up-the-jumper’ stuff all day.
“I think we all found a way to dig deep and get the win.
“It definitely wasn’t pretty. It was real basic rugby but thankfully we came through.”
Cody Laverty scored a try for Letterkenny in the match and it was in the melting pot right up until the closing stages.
A draw would have been respectable but Peter Scott had other ideas and he fired over a super penalty to claim the win.
“Peter stepped up with the last kick of the game.
“It wasn’t an easy kick either. It was probably about 35 metres on the angle and into a tough breeze but he faded it in beautifully to be fair to him.
“He’s a man for the big occasion and he loves a bit of pressure.”
Letterkenny are currently seventh in Championship 2 but are only four points off Academy in fourth place.
Their form has been mixed but Faulkner feels there have been signs of improvement over the last month.
“We had a good start and we won our first game away to Monaghan.
“We were flying high after that but we came back to earth fairly quickly with a few injuries and things like that.
“I think we lost six on the bounce.
“Then three games ago we were playing Grosvenor away and we won that match.
“Since then we have beat Grosvenor and Derry both at home so hopefully we have turned things around a wee bit and can build some momentum going into the new year.”
He added: “Our Assistant coach from last year Adam Bratton is now the Head Coach and Richard McCarter is in as Backs Coach.
“It takes a wee bit of time for coaches coming in to get their messages across as well.
“I think you can see improvement. The results haven’t always come but we have been putting in real good performances against teams at the top of the table like Carrickfergus and Limavady.”
With one team going down automatically, Letterkenny don’t want to get dragged into a relegation battle and have designs of moving further up the table.
“With the way the table is you’re never really safe from relegation until it’s mathematically impossible to go down.
“It’s very tight. You could throw a blanket over a lot of the teams in the middle.
“We take every game as it comes and just try to build a bit of a buffer now that we have pulled away from the bottom two and try and not get sucked back in now.
“But it’s really important that you treat every game with respect.”
There’s plenty of travel involved for the players with trips to Larne, Carrickfergus, Ards, and Academy but Faulkner says the attitude of the group can’t be questioned.
“We have a few long trips this year alright but for me, it just comes with the territory of playing rugby in Ulster.
“You know you’re going to have long journeys and it works out for us because teams have to travel to Letterkenny.
“There’s definitely great commitment. We have guys travelling back from all over for training on a Thursday evening and play on Saturday.
“The first team and the development team and the Under 18s would train together on a Tuesday, and then our team specifics would be worked on at the team run on Thursday when all the bodies are back.
“There’s great buy-in from everyone.”
City of Derry will be smarting after losing to Letterkenny last week and they will feel they have a point to prove on home ground this Saturday, with kick-off at 2.30pm.
“I think they were definitely up for the game and they played quite well.
“They hung in the game. There were times when we were battering their line and there was no way through.
“They will definitely be keen to make up for last weekend.
“But likewise we would feel that we didn’t do some things as well as we could have so we will need to improve on a few aspects of our game as well.
“It will be interesting and I’m sure there will be a good crowd at Judge’s Road for it as well.”
