Bonus point start to new season
A large crowd turned out at Sandel Lodge for this opening encounter in the highly competitive Qualifying League. The heavier Coleraine pack made its presence felt from early on though Cooke soaked up the pressure, with visiting out-half Robinson using his boot to good effect. The Belfast side struck first when player-coach Atkinson broke through the Coleraine defence. Linking up with his backs the ball passed through several hands to winger Kingham who stepped inside to touch down with 13 minutes played. Robinson added the conversion.
Coleraine came back strongly but failed with a penalty attempt when Cooke infringed at a tackle. Pressure from the home side paid off shortly afterwards. Open side flanker Mullen, who was influential throughout the game, picked the ball up from the side of a ruck and released supporting full-back Cochrane to carry over. Scrum-half Carstens’ conversion levelled affairs at 7 – 7 with half an hour played.
The remainder of the half was dominated by Cooke with Robinson pushing a penalty wide. Coleraine defended heroically in the final minutes of the half, twice repelling Cooke advances from attacking line-outs on their 5-metre line leaving the score-line at the break unchanged at 7 points apiece.
With the wind in their favour, Coleraine commenced the second half aggressively but lack of discipline repeatedly allowed Cooke to kick out of trouble. An error by the visitors was however severely punished by the alert Coleraine defence. A great attacking move by Cooke on the halfway backfired when a wayward pass was picked up by pacey Coleraine winger Barr who sprinted in under the Cooke posts. Carstens’ simple conversion gave the Bannsiders a 14-7 lead.
Midway through the half Coleraine were disadvantaged when their strong open side, Mullen, received a yellow card. Cooke took immediate advantage when flanker Atkinson barged over from a ruck on the Coleraine line. Winger Alan Gourley was off target with the conversion. Five minutes later Atkinson started what was the best move of the game. The ball was passed between seven sets of hands before reaching winger Kingham who crossed the line for his second try. Winger Gourley was off target with the difficult conversion but Cooke had regained a 14-17 point lead
Coleraine responded assertively with strong running centre Patterson continually testing the Cooke centre partnership of Doherty and Finlay. The pressure paid off and when Cooke infringed at a ruck in their 22, Cartsens’ penalty again levelled the scores. As the full time whistle beckoned most people had assumed a home victory when Carstens kicked a further penalty when Cooke were guilty of a late tackle.
But the Belfast side had not ‘thrown in the towel’. In added time the visitors were awarded a line-out on the Coleraine 22. Cooke captain Quigley secured a clean catch which he delivered to pivot Creighton to set his backs off on a final attack. The precision passing along the line found Alan Gourley on the opposite wing who popped the ball inside to his brother Alex to break Coleraine hearts with a final touch down. Alan Gourley missed the final conversion but Cooke supporters left Sandel Lodge extremely satisfied with a bonus point start to this season’s campaign. Final score Coleraine 20 : Cooke 22
This was an extremely encouraging start by a team containing many new and young faces. All players deserve credit but the back row of Atkinson, Mooney and Boyd were particularly effective with the diminutive Mooney disrupting Coleraine play throughout. Veterans Hunter and Doherty impressed in their front row and centre positions respectively.
