We caught up with first half of the Regional East clash between Academy and Cooke 3rd XV's on Saturday afternoon at Roughfort. I was quite surprised to hear the final score of 76 - 10 in this one as the first half was fairly competitive. Academy had a definite edge but Cooke also had their moments.

We caught up with the big game in Championship 1 as 3rd placed Cooke welcomed top of the table Dromore to Shaws Bridge on Saturday afternoon. With the game featuring two teams that usually like to play rugby I was looking forward to this one but it was, unfortunately, a big disappointment, there was plenty of physical effort but it was short on thrills, with far too many errors.

I stayed on at Shawsbridge for the 1st half of the Women’s AIL fixture between Cooke and Blackrock. Opening exchanges were tight. Cooke took the lead on 6 minutes, when Georgia Boyce squeezed over. Amanda Morton’s conversion put Cooke 7-0 up. Ella Durkin added 2 tries and 2 conversions for Blackrock Cooke defended robustly as Blackrock unleashed a series of forward drives.

On Saturday afternoon, Ballymena 2XV were the visitors to Shawsbridge for the Towns Cup Quarter Final Tie with Cooke. For almost 30 minutes of this tie both teams cancelled each other out, resulting in the game stagnating in midfield. Following a Ballymena yellow card, Cooke hit a 5 minute purple patch. Kyle Mitchell dots down for Cooke's opening score On 28 minutes Kyle Mitchell rounded the Ballymena defence to dot down.

I caught up with the first half of the Championship 1 match between Cooke and Bangor last Saturday (18th January) in a 17:00 kick of at Shaws Bridge. With the lighting and the conditions this one needed a bit of work in the processing so I was only able to complete it this weekend.

On Saturday evening Ballincollig made the long trip up from Co Cork to play Cooke in a Women’s AIL fixture at Shawsbridge. It was a clear windless night after the previous day’s storms. I took in the 1st half. Ballincollig enjoyed early possession and took the lead in the 9th minute, when Katie O’Sullivan was driven over from a lineout maul for a 5-0 lead.

I caught up with the McCambley Cup match between Cooke 3XV and Ophir at Shaws Bridge on Saturday afternoon. This one was a bit of a cracker between two teams that liked to throw the ball about. Aaron McGroarty showcases his skills as well as picking up two tries for Cooke in the first half. Cooke were first on the scoreboard with a try after eight minutes by captain Norman McKenzie who barged over from close range.

I stayed on at Shawsbridge for the afternoon game between Belfast rivals, Cooke and Grosvenor, in Championship One. The cold wind had become stronger as temperatures fell under the floodlights. Ball handling and kicking became a lottery as both teams struggled to retain possession. Playing into the wind Cooke took the lead in the 5th minute when Ben Pentland scored from a driving maul to put Cooke 5-0 up.