Thirds run in ten tries

CITY of Derry Thirds produced a dominating and ruthless performance against a weakened Portadown team at Judges Road on Saturday.

The mighty Thirds ran in 10 tries before the game was blown up early with 30 minutes still left to play. Portadown suffered some key injuries and lost two players before half time and another shortly after the re-start leaving them with just 12 players by the end of the game.

Regardless of this it was still a fine performance by this improving young home side, who had scored four tries in the opening 15 minutes while the game was still 15 a side.

The Derry pack dominated every set piece and a youthful backline tore the visitors to pieces. Derry tries came courtesy of a Phil Duffy hat-trick and a brace from Jason McDermott, who also added six conversions.

Further Derry tries came from the returning Mark Walker, Paddy Gough, Adam Kyle and two from the impressive Simon Cairns.

Next up for the thirds is the much anticipated crunch away fixture against a strong Omagh side, who have held an impressive record against Derry in recent years.