REVENGE FOR COLERAINE
Coleraine 1stXV gained a measure of revenge for their Junior Cup Final defeat against Donaghadee, when they put in a spirited performance at Sandel Lodge, on Saturday, to defeat the same opponents 22-18, in the Kukri Qualifying Div. 1.
It was a closely contested match, played in a good spirit with little to chose between the teams and the home side probably just about deserved to take the honours, if only for showing a greater willingness to play an expansive game.
For a Coleraine selection, that was shorn, in the pack, of regulars Gault, Bogle, Dickey and Douglas there was little point in trying to slug it out with the bigger visiting forwards and so, from the first whistle,the Bannsiders attempted to move the ball at every opportunity.
The early omens were not good however with visiting winger Santos popping over a simple penalty to give his side a 6th minute lead and then Dee centre, Martindale wrong-footing the home defence with a subtle change to the angle of his run, before collecting a short pass and striding clear for a try, converted by Santos. 0-10.
The home players, to their credit, responded positively and although several passages of enterprising play ultimately produced nothing in the way of touchdowns, the Dee defence was forced into conceding penalties and the reliable boot of David Andrews struck twice to leave his side 4 points in arrears after 20 minutes play.
The Coleraine scrum, reinforced by the inclusion of the influential Jarlath Carey was providing a solid platform for half-backs Andrews and Paul Roxborough but the visitors enjoyed a lineout supremacy which proved to be crucial on several occasions in defusing promising home attacks.
Coleraine’s Jonathon Henderson and Brian Cochrane both looked dangerous when in possession and in the 30th minute, the former was only denied a try, by an ankle-tap, on the Dee 22, after a set piece play had put him into space. The excitement continued with the visitor’s No. 9, Lockhart, feeding Martindale on the narrow side to launch a counter-attack and he was in turn only deprived of 5 points by Andy Neely who pulled off a superb cover tackle deep inside the home 22. Back came the ball on the Coleraine side and off we went again with Andrews’ pass inviting Cochrane and Nigel Hall to show their paces and the first half of the action concluded with the visitors happy to see the ball go out of play. H.T. 6-10.
Niall Irwin replaced a bruised Cochrane at the start of the second period and after early pressure had yielded a brace of free kicks both of which Roxborough ran and came tantalisingly close to scoring from, Martindale
infringed again, prior to departing for 10 minutes and Andrews added to Dee discomfort with a third successful penalty attempt. 9-10.
Status quo was restored a couple of minutes later, Coleraine spilling the restart and handing the initiative to the visitors. Several phases of play later, David Ferguson was judged to have executed a dangerous tackle and he also exited for 10 minutes, with Santos adding to his team’s total. 9-13.
Both teams were now a man short and it was the Sandel Lodge XV that initially gained the upper hand. The pack drove forward, with William Hunt, Neely and Carey, prominent, before supplying Andrews and the outhalf showed strength and quick feet in picking his way through a posse of defenders for an excellent score. The same player added the extras. 16-13.
Having secured the lead for the first time, Coleraine once again knocked-on when visiting outhalf Blewitt restarted play and Dee set up camp inside the home 22, retaining possession impressively through many phases before Santos squeezed over from close range for an unconverted, corner flag, try. 16-18.
Santos had bagged 13 points for his club but he was to be upstaged by Andrews, who proceeded to kick penalties in the 71st and 75th minutes for a resurgent Coleraine and increase his and his team’s tally to 22.
There were 5 minutes left on the clock and the excitement mounted steadily as the visitors laid siege to the Coleraine line. Time and again close range drives were repelled by resolute tackling until, deep into injury time, Dee conceded a penalty, for holding on and the ball was dispatched to the touchline, to seal a morale boosting win for the Bannsiders as they prepare for a tough schedule of important League and Cup games in the coming weeks.
Coleraine.
Cochrane.B.;Hall.N.,Orr.D.,Simpson.S.,Henderson.J.;Andrews.D.,Roxborough.P.;Carey.J.,Ferguson.D.,Jefferson.S.;Cochrane.R.,Hunter.M.;Gibson.R.,Hunt.W.,Neely.A.
Subs. Irwin.N.(for Cochrane.B.), Caskey.R. (for Hunt.)
