Enniskillen v Cooke
29 January 2010
Cooke should have secured a bonus point in a much improved
performance against lowly placed Enniskillen. The visitors started the game confidently but lost flanker Frazer in the
first 5 minutes due to a pulled hamstring. Glover came on as replacement. Undeterred, the Belfast
team took hold of the game and were rewarded with fifteen minutes played. A clearance from a ruck on the Enniskillen 22
was charged down by hooker Hendron. The
ball was collected by Cooke out-half Wilson who sprinted over in the
corner. Jarvis added the conversion.
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Cooke continued to dominate play with forwards and backs
co-ordinating well. On 30 minutes Cooke
crossed the Enniskillen line again when the ball was spread wide to the right
wing. The groan from the ‘skins’ support
was, however, relieved by the home touch judge who maintained the Cooke winger
had ‘brushed’ the touchline.
Try number two was a ‘text book’ response by the Cooke
backs. Centre Jarvis delayed a pass to
fullback Cartmill who cut through a flat-footed defence. He popped the ball to winger Donaldson who
touched down in the corner unhindered. Jarvis’ second difficult conversion of the afternoon rebounded off the
post.
The first half concluded with a penalty attempt by
Enniskillen number 10, Hurst, which drifted wide. Half Time score Enniskillen
0 Cooke 12
Enniskillen commenced the second half more in more
determined fashion. However, aggression ‘boiled over’ shortly afterwards and
saw opposing props Warrington
and Seawright yellow carded following a disagreement in the front row. The resultant uncontested scrums favoured
Enniskillen and served to remind Cooke they were still in a game. A ‘skins’ scrum in Cooke territory saw the
ball spread first to their left wing. The home pack retained the ball and passed out to the right wing, then
back across the pitch to the left where flanker Hall was on hand to exploit a
gap in the Cooke defence. Hurst
added the conversion.
Spurred into action the home side attacked the Cooke line
from the re-start. A ten minute period
of pressure was absorbed by the Cooke defence before Enniskillen lock Carleton
received a yellow card for stamping. Cooke
took full advantage of the situation and brought play back into the Skins
22. A certain try for the visitors was
denied when Donaldson was caught inches from the line.
Cooke’s final try of the afternoon came with 15 minutes
remaining. The Cooke fullback again came
into an attacking line, releasing centre Armstrong who crashed through a number
of tackles before scoring. Jarvis
miscued the conversion.
Final score Enniskillen
7 Cooke 17
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This was an improved performance from the team who displayed
a more positive attitude. Gough had a
big impact in the line-outs while McMurray and McCordick worked tirelessly in
loose play. In the backs handling was
very sharp with moves practiced on the training pitch having the desired
effect.
|
1st XV Reports 
