Cooke RFC Women 2nd XV entertained their Malone equivalents in this Ulster rugby Women’s Conference D2 match on Sunday afternoon at Shawsbridge.

In an entertaining match, Malone came out on top, outscoring their hosts by four tries to one, though it was a tight game for much of the encounter. Unfortunately, a couple of screws on my lens auto focus drive motor worked loose during the game so there are only pics up to the start of the second half.

The first quarter was fairly evenly matched as the teams battled it out for dominance in the middle of the park.

Cooke struck the first blow on the half hour mark when Laura Cairns crossed for the opening score. The conversion was missed, from out wide, giving a scoreline of 5 – 0 to Cooke.

Malone hit back fairly quickly with Ashleigh Currie battling to the line five minutes later, Zarah Joyce-Ryan converting to give the Gibson Girls a two point lead.

The visitors extended their lead on the stroke of half time with a powerful run from Naomi McCord ending under the posts. The conversion was missed leaving the score a 5 – 12 in Malone’s favour as the team’s turned round.

Cooke battled well throughout throughout the second half but they were unable to find that final pass. Malone crossed twice more, through McCord and Sara Houston, to wrap up the game. Joyce-Ryan converted both to give a final score of Cooke II 5 Malone II 26.