Irish Rugby TV: Cooke Aiming To End Season With Shield Silverware
Cooke are determined to finish the season with some silverware after their fifth place finish in the Women’s All-Ireland League.
Head coach Wayne Kelly told Irish Rugby TV that their sights are firmly fixed on this Saturday’s All-Ireland Shield final against Tralee at Ashbourne RFC (kick-off 1.30pm).
“We wanted to finish well for the league campaign,” he said. “We’ve done that. We’ve set our stall out. That’s behind us now. We’ll be pushing for that bit of silverware to end the season on a really big high.”
Cooke were defeated by a highly rated Suttonians side in round 1 of the Women’s All-Ireland Cup but regrouped in the Shield competition with a comfortable win at Ballynahinch and a 7-6 triumph away to a tough Shannon outfit. Tralee await them in the final.
“Watch this space,” were the final words of Eliza Downey when asked if she will still be with the Belfast club after a ‘development year’ for Cooke. The former Ireland winger was in flying form during Saturday’s 22-20 final round victory at home to St. Mary’s.
“I’m really proud of the girls. We had some great wins, but we’re just trying to get that consistency and culture of play in our team. I think everyone’s just happy to come away from the league and finish on a win,”
WOMEN’S ALL-IRELAND CUP FINALS: Saturday, March 30
Cup Final: Blackrock v UL Bohemians, Ashbourne RFC, 2.30pm
Plate Final: Old Belvedere v Railway Union, Ashbourne RFC, 12pm
Shield Final: Tralee v Cooke, Ashbourne RFC, 1.30pm
In the event of a draw in any of the games, the following regulations will come in to effect:
– If clubs are tied at full-time, extra-time of 10 minutes each way will be played
– If still tied, the team who has scored the most tries will be the winners
– If still tied, the team who scored the first try will be the winners
– If no tries have been scored, the team that scored the first points in the match will be the winners
– If the game is scoreless, penalty kicks will be be taken to decide the winners