Malone 2nd XV win McCrea Cup

MALONE 2NDS TRIUMPH IN MCCREA CUP FINAL
17 April 2017 15:08pm

By Richard Finlay

Malone 2nds - McCrea Cup winners 2017

Malone 2nds withstood a late comeback from Cooke to win 20-26 in Easter Monday's McCrea Cup final at Kingspan Stadium.

The Cregagh Road side, who lost to Cooke in last year's decider, produced a commanding first half display to set them on their way to victory.

They started the game strongly as powerful prop Ben Halliday crossed in the 5th minute, only for it to be disallowed. But the pressure continued and after a number of phases, left wing Jack McMurtry dotted down near the left touchline. Fullback Rory Campbell added the difficult conversion for a 0-7 lead.

Cooke responded in a positive manner and Alan Gourley kicked a penalty moments later to reduce the deficit to 3-7.

Malone got the upper hand again, with Campbell knocking over two penalties, which came either side of a sin binning for flanker Callum Robinson after persistent infringements by Cooke.

The Red Sox scored their second try of the match after some fantastic play by Josh Pentland. The inside centre cut through a dog leg in midfield and charged into the Cooke 22 before finding the direct-running Richard Millar, who finished off with aplomb under the posts. Campbell kicked the extras to extend his side's lead to 6-20.

The impressive Campbell missed a long-range drop goal attempt soon after, but he made amends with a third penalty on the stroke of half-time to bring the score to 6-23.

Malone continued their dominance into the second half and as Cooke struggled to contain them, Adrian Dodd was also yellow carded. Campbell was off target with the resultant penalty but he knocked over another effort on the hour mark to give his side a commanding 20-point advantage (6-26).

Cooke came back into the game and an outstanding break by Jonny McClune sent Dodd charging over the line, only for him to be held up by a Malone defender.

The Shaw's Bridge outfit continued to push for their first try and eventually in came through influential captain, Toby Mannus. Gourley's conversion brought Cooke back into the game at 13-26.

Buoyed by that score, Cooke started to play with increased tempo and precision in the closing stages. After a number of excellent phases, fullback Alex Gourley crossed for a try in the right corner, with his brother Alan knocking over the difficult conversion to close the gap to 20-26.

Campbell saw a penalty effort bounce back off the upright but his side held on for the win despite another late rally from the Cooke men.

COOKE 1st XV:
15 Alex Gourley
14 Jonathan Backus
13 Philip Cartmill
12 Kyle Mitchell
11 Andrew Nelson
10 Alan Gourley
9 Ryan Flavell
8 Brian Mannus
7 Callum Robinson
6 Adrian Dodd
5 Matthew Brothers
4 Andrew Quigley
3 William Dodd
2 Curtis Montgomery
1 Jonathan McClune

Replacements:
16 Russell Hunter
17 Karl Sloan
18 Scott McClelland
19 Matthew Elliott
20 Philip Doherty

MALONE 2nd XV:
15 Rory Campbell
14 David Irvine
13 Michael Barker
12 Josh Pentland
11 Jack McMurtry
10 Bruce Duff
9 Callum Jeffery
8 Richard Millar
7 Darryl Maxwell
6 Tiarmam Dillon
5 Lee Barlow
4 Cory Tipping
3 Ricky Greenwood
2 Connor Kelly
1 Ben Halliday

Replacements:
16 Chris Davis
17 Kenny Callaine
18 Gary Crawford
19 Michael Browne
20 Jack Knox