ANOTHER NARROW DEFEAT FOR COOKE

Clogher Valley deservedly beat Cooke 15-10 in the top of the table clash at Shaws Bridge. It was sweet revenge for the Tyrone men after their narrow loss in the reverse fixture. Despite dominating possession Cooke were unable to penetrate the Clogher defence and again found difficulty in coping with the familiar driving maul from the lineouts. The game began with Cooke apparently having made the decision to play with the advantage of a strong breeze. From the kick off the Cooke pack mistakenly thought the ball was going directly into touch allowing Clogher an immediate foothold in the home half. The away team won the lineout and moved the ball left. The Cooke backs were caught cold and failed to come up in line allowing Full back Breen to waltz through untouched and score at the posts. Bothwell added the simple conversion. (7-0)

After the early shock Cooke got back into the game but their plans were disrupted in the 7th minute when Aiona was forced to retire after a blatant late hit by Clogher No 7 Giles. Although the referee awarded the penalty the offender somehow avoided a yellow card. The referee throughout the match continually allowed Clogher to slow the ball down at the breakdown and prevent quick ball. He chose not to enforce the law which requires the tackler to move away after the tackle. Montgomery replaced the injured player at out half. Cooke continued to press and despite the strong breeze in their favour turned down 3 kickable penalties and went for the corner. The score eventually came in the 27th minute from one of the few flowing back moves, Doherty came off the right wing to loop around and touch down in the left corner. The conversion was missed. (7-5)

The same pattern followed with Cooke unable to make any real chances until injury time when after being awarded 3 penalties in a row, Clogher finally made it into the home half. From a lineout in the 22 they caught and drove in textbook fashion to cross on the right side. Bothwell was unable to add the 2 points. (12-5)

The referee immediately blew for half time having added only 3 minutes despite a number of lengthy stoppages. With a score line at 12- 5 the second half was always going to be difficult for Cooke. The home team restarted in determined fashion and were back in the match in the 44th minute when after some fine handling, Kelly scored close to the posts. Unfortunately, Beggs hit the post with the conversion. (12-10)

Bothwell increased the narrow Clogher lead 3 minutes later when he kicked a straight forward penalty. (15-10)

Sadly for Cooke that was the end of the scoring as they were continually frustrated by the away defence which exploited the laws to the full. Despite the effort put in, Cooke lacked cohesion and without the injured players in the back line they lacked the ability to break the line. The match ended following a melee with the referee again failing to add the appropriate time for stoppages. The team will have to lift themselves for another difficult encounter at Limivady who will be keen to avenge their heavy defeat at Shaws Bridge.