Cookstown RFC continued its winning ways with a hard fought victory over local rivals Rainey Old Boys in the Ulster Minor League. Like all big derby games; form, league standings and points difference went out the window as both of these sides served up a tense and error ridden game; however two moments of brilliance secured two more vital league points for Cookstown.
The game kicked off with a stiff breeze blowing across the pitch and causing havoc with any attempts at wide play. The soft underfoot conditions also played a part in contributing to a slow moving game. As a result most of the action took place between the two ten metre lines. However with dominance at the set pieces, both scrum time and lineouts Cookstown, stayed on top during the early exchanges. Indeed it was a well taken scrum against the head on the Rainey 22 that lead to the first Cookstown try. The ball was spun wide to centre Ronan Campbell who forced his way through the napping Rainey defence where he was eventually stopped just short of the try line. From the ensuing ruck the ball was recycled and quickly fed out to winger Barry Loughran who touched down in the corner. The conversion was missed 5-0.
Into the second half and Cookstown’s second try came following another set piece. A well taken lineout on the Rainey 22 saw scrum half Darral Donaghy go on a fine a sniping run up to the five metre line where he was eventually tackled. However Darral somehow offloaded to the supporting Ryan Eastwood who had no hesitation in racing in for his fourth try in three games. The conversion was missed, 10-0 to Cookstown.
The remainder of the game was forward dominated with both defences on top, frequent handling errors ruined any chance of a spectacle breaking out. Team captain Ryan Eastwood was pleased with the result but no so much with the performance and confirmed that a lot of work was need ahead of the tough cup fixture with Grosvenor.
Man of the match went to the towering JP Reah who put in an excellent performance at lineout time.
Team: C.McKenna, B.Loughran, D.Nugent, R.Campbell, C.Harte, J.McGurk, D.Weir, S.Quinn, D.Donaghy. C.Currie. O.Mallon, S.Rea, R.Brown, M.Devlin, C.Moore, R.Eastwood, K.Park, J.P.Reah.
The club would like to thank Rainey Old Boy’s for their kind hospitality after the game and to local photographer Daron Patterson for his coverage of the game.
