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Millar McCall Wylie Junior Cup
Limavady V Cooke 14th September 2019
Cooke kicked off in a stiff southerly breeze blowing across the pitch. Limavady launched the first attack with a penetrating break by Jonny Lees. The Limavady flanker was stopped inside the Cooke 22 and Limavady were awarded a penalty.
From the resulting line out Limavady were awarded another penalty when Cooke were judged to have deliberately knocked on. This was taken quickly but the ball was knocked on. Cooke were able to exit their 22 with a penalty kick to the Limavady 10 meter line.
Some weak Limavady tackling allowed the Cooke scrum half, Ryan Flavelle, to run from the half way line to score in the left corner. The conversion kick was successful and Cooke had a 7-0 lead.
Two minutes later a Limavady clearing kick was charged down and Cooke had their second try on 10 minutes again scored in the left corner by Ryan Flavelle. The kick at goal was missed giving Cooke a 12-0 lead.
Limavady came back strongly and left wing Stewart Roddy was forced into touch just short of the Cooke try line on 15 minutes. Both teams were guilty of handling errors and silly penalties before Cooke intercepted a loose Limavady pass, deep in their own half, to score under the posts. The kick was successful and on 20 minutes Cooke had extended their lead to 19-0.
Limavady came back strongly with Stewart Morrow being held up over the line. Again Limavady’s handling let them down and Cooke were able to exit. The Cooke scrum half and captain was then yellow carded for a tip tackle. Limavady at last took advantage by scoring their first points, after a tap penalty, when Stewart Morrow went over for a try. Luke Faulkner added the conversion to get Limavady into the game.
Cooke took play close to the Limavady line with a penalty kick and from the resultant line out the Cooke pack scored with a well -executed maul. The conversion kick was missed but Cooke now had a healthy lead 26-7.
Limavady had a period of possession near the Cooke line and a series of Cooke infringements resulted in a second yellow card this time for Alex Gourley. Once again Limavady made good use of the man advantage when Mathew Haslett scored in the right corner to cut Cooke’s Lead to 26-12 at half time.
Limavady started the second half brightly and Jody McMurray made an excellent break and looked certain to score when the referee pulled him back, when he judged that he, the referee, had obstructed a Cooke defender. Limavady kept the pressure on and 8 minutes into second half Luke Faulkner scored to make the score 26-17 in Cooke’s favour.
Limavady continued to press and only a poor final pass prevented another Limavady try. Cooke relieved the pressure with yet another interception and on 57 minutes Cooke scored again to lead 31-17.
Limavady began to get the upper hand and on 61 and 63 minutes scored tries through Jody McMurray and Jamie Millar respectively. With both conversions successful the scores were now level at 31-31. The game was now in the balance.
As the final whistle approached Limavady executed a poor clearance kick and the strong Cooke back 3 ran the ball back for Cooke’s right wing, Andrew Nelson to score wide on the right. Cooke closed out the match winning 36-31.
Report – Bob Boyd
Photos – Steve Haslett
