Qualifying Rugby

[cheese]

he is effective at this level. suits his style of rugby when it gets to wintery days. Portadown not going too well this year so far.

[gannonman]

He was a top club player back when playing for Harlequins, us and Hinch but I saw him last year playing for Armagh against Portadown and he just fell when even touched and he is only there for the money. The team your were playing for goes into Senior rugby yet you move to a junior side?

[cjp]

He obviously went for the money but he is the wrong side of 30 and he will be guarenteed a start at Portadown which he won't be at Armagh.

[cheese]

i see a few senior players have dropped down to junior league so should make it quite tight. hope all aren't just for the money

[cheese]

who won between Dee and CIYMS at the weekend

[WhiteKnightoftheWeld]

the dee
bonus point win

mashed them.

[pwrmoore]

we'll get you in the return fixture....

[cheese]

after the classic at ballynahinch on friday i decidd to go watch the big class in the qualifying league on saturday when cooke took on donaghadee. this was to be the big clash and the game had some hostility going into due to a cancellation of the christmas fixture by the 'dee'. I have to say Cooke totally destroyed the dee pack, who were missing 2 props, but even at that they wouldn't have made that much off a difference. Great game in poor conditions.

[WhiteKnightoftheWeld]

after the classic at ballynahinch on friday i decidd to go watch the big class in the qualifying league on saturday when cooke took on donaghadee. this was to be the big clash and the game had some hostility going into due to a cancellation of the christmas fixture by the 'dee'. I have to say Cooke totally destroyed the dee pack, who were missing 2 props, but even at that they wouldn't have made that much off a difference. Great game in poor conditions.

Wasnt at this but a good mate was there. came home fairly disappointed, and pretty disgusted by cooke.

he reckons cooke were the better side (his words: they smashed us) and deserved the win, but you'd have thought they'd just won a final at ravenhill with their post-match celebrations. as well as that, the antics of the cooke coaches etc - from the sideline - he said were an embarrassment to their club. some pretty choice language for no need, with almost constant harassing of the referee. and this includes a certain former ulster player who has failed to cut the mustard as a coach at several AIL sides.

the 2 props missing would have made a big difference. perhaps not result changing, but certainly a much closer affair. to say otherwise suggests you have not seen the dee so far this season before saturday.

[cheese]

i watched the dee in the junior cup final and seen one of the props standing out ofthe game mostly and just coming up for scrums. I only stood about for a while but from what i heard it was just cooke singing a victory song like most teams do. you go to hinch, queens, malone, queens etc and you will get the same reaction after every win.

[WhiteKnightoftheWeld]

the dee lads found it laughable, on the back of it being a league win at home for cooke and not a game that secured a trophy or promotion or the like.

you are seriously underestimating the contribution of either of the dee's props. i dont know what cup final you watched if you are saying that - one is a hard working grafter who will hit every ruck, carry all day, etc etc. The other will kick the ball at times, put in chases, make big hits etc. At ravenhill both were outstanding. both are excellent in the scrum.

make no mistake - cooke were the better side. but a lot of their dominance came in large part from the scrum, which i can guarantee you wouldnt have been the case had both the regular props played, with the hooker in his usual position (he went to TH)

around the park, and particularly defensively, those two would have played a much bigger role than the younger hooker and LH who stepped up.

im going on a 2nd hand account of the game as i've said.

[cheese]

well i can agree it would have been different but that Junior cup final the prop they got from inst stood at the back waiting for kicks on numerous occassions. His scrummaging was excellent but thats all he did.

[WhiteKnightoftheWeld]

Bangor aren't "going up the hill"
lost a fair few close games at home

cheese i can imagine which of the props you refer to based on what you've said. incidentally both came from instonians...
all i will say, having seen a good few of donaghadee's games over the past few seasons (as long as he has been playing there) he has always played this way. he does however contribute a lot more than you think - he'll do both the eye catching (field kicks, and charge through tacklers, make big hits etc) as well as rumble the ball forward, clear rucks, tackle around the fringes etc. you're underestimating his contribution massively.

[cheese]

well i hope to get to dee clogher game and i am sure i will be proved wrong. that should be a cracker

[WhiteKnightoftheWeld]

yes i hear clogher came from behind to win on saturday. It will be themselves or cooke to win the league i think.
dee and ballymoney should make up the top 4. Dee have also been drawn away to clogher in the towns cup and it should be being played sometime in feb so there will be 2 matches in a matter of weeks between these 2. it was a close affair in the league at clogher.

for dee: keep an eye on both props, the hooker, and the kiwi 2nd row. they do a great deal of the unseen work that's needed. there are other more prolific ball carriers but these 4 I would say are the real force behind the side this year. there are plenty of attacking threats in the side, and the (if fit) starting XV shows little weakness. but a good team starts at the front and the tight 5 are a match for anyone in junior rugby

i believe that clogher lost their no 8 to a leg break or nasty injury of some sort, and that he was a real driving force in their team. it would be a shame if this was to put the skids on their season.

in the battle for top spot, I would imagine that cooke would harbour some ambition of being an AIL club; whereas for Clogher it might be the case that being a top Junior club is the height of their ambition. Certainly cooke should be better placed to survive were they to go up, although player recruitment with inst, quins, malone and queens all within close range might not be all that easy. there's a good bit of rugby still to be played though and cooke have a few games more, in hand. all tight at the top...