In what was probably the deciding match, for the objective bystander, of the Ulster Cup this season, City of Derry showed their worth by beating rivals Cooke in a hotly contested game at Judges Road by 8 points to 7.
The score was never going to be a high one, given the high level of commitment from both sides, but with Cooke lying mid-table in AIL Division 1, their opposition were clearly the underdogs in this first round Cup fixture. No other Ulster team but for Cooke has ever had its hands on this silverware, such was the nature of the task that faced the Derry girls, some of whom were in only their first season and a couple of whom were playing in only their third game.
Click Here for 15 photos from the game courtesy of Bernard Doherty e: bernarddoherty@hotmail.com
The first half was dominated by Cooke possession and territory and City of Derry put bodies on the line time after time to prevent a score. Gradually the Derry girls obtained more possession and in the 35th minute found themselves in the Cooke 22 as a result of some excellent work by Mandisa Williams. Williams tackled her opposite number and Captain Diane Nixon stole the ball and fed to Fundi Plaatjie who put winger Natasha Milligan away to score in the corner to leave the score 5 – 0.
Derry stretched the lead to 8-0 courtesy of a Rachel Lennox penalty on 50 minutes when winger Andrea Shepherd was brought down by a high tackle. Lennox showed her nerve when she was asked to re-take the kick and coolly slotted over the penalty with aplomb. After the restart, however, Cooke put the pressure on and were unlucky not to succeed in a drop goal attempt by ex-Irish International Grace Davitt but were thwarted by a charge down by Glenda Mellon, who put in yet another sterling performance at blind side flank.
The Cooke pressure was finally rewarded by a try near the posts and the conversion was slotted over by Davitt to leave the score 8-7 in Derry’s favour.
With 10 minutes to play, Cooke looked to be clawing their way to victory but this was to be Derry’s day whose level of commitment from every player was simply outstanding. When the final whistle went, all that was left was for the Derry players and coaches was to savour the moment. This may just be the year when Derry win the Ulster Cup for the first time.
Coach James Doherty commented after the game: “It is true to say that tries win matches and tackles win championships. The girls had real belief today, and that showed. The commitment in defence was tremendous – again, that demonstrates how much the girls want to play for each other”.
