COOKSTOWN almost came a cropper of their fantastic start in their match with Ulster Premier League challengers Instonians at Shawsbridge.
The Reds, without Ewan Butler but with Godfrey Irwin back, raced to a 3-0 lead in the first half before addin
g two more in the second period only to face a nervous final quarter when they conceded three without response.
From early on Cookstown made their intentions very clear to the opposition with some fast pace attacking: Timmy Smyth and Greg Allen were working especially well together, putting the Instonians defence under a lot of pressure.
It didn't take long for this approach to pay off and Andy Barbour robbed the ball from an opposing defender, laying off for Gareth Cuddy, who in turn flashed the ball across the circle to Timmy Smyth. The Reds leading scorer made no mistake finishing at the back post with the simplest of goals.
Cookstown found themselves adding more goals to the score sheet almost straight away. Allen finished off a clever move from international David Ames in midfield after Cuddy had smashed the ball into the roof of the net from an initial rebounded effort from Stuart Smyth.
The game was then forced into an unfortunate stoppage, when Cuddy picked up a nasty eye injury after a clash with an Inst player.
With the Reds unsure whether or not to press on in the second half or to sit back and protect the score line, Instonians started to come back into the match. Last gasp challenges from Colin Donaldson and David Best managed to keep the Instonian attackers at bay.
The early second half pressure was dealt with effectively and the Reds began to surge forward yet again, and it was only a matter of time before they would add a fourth.
Mark Crooks bravely deflected a high cross from Ames into the goal just before Keith Black then put Cookstown into an astonishing five goal lead when he coolly converted a penalty stroke after a shot on goal was illegally stopped by a foot on the line.
Fortunately for Inst, the Reds found themselves down to ten men soon afterwards: an innocuous challenge by enforcer Black was deemed to be worthy of a yellow card and he was sent to sit on a wheelie bin for ten minutes. With Cookstown down men, Instonians forced their way back into the game, scoring two well worked short corners by Robinson and Kirk, and with only seconds left on the clock Steven Redpath managed to score a third to tarnish a quality Cookstown performance against a top of the table team.
Cookstown: Ian Hughes (c), Keith Black, Ian Hutchinson, David Best, Colin Donaldson, David Ames, Timmy Smyth, Stephen Sloan, Andy Barbour, Gareth Cuddy, Greg Allen, Mark Crooks, Godfrey Irwin, Stuart Smyth, Ian Sloan, Ivan Steen.
Millar, Shearer & Black Man of the Match: Andy Barbour; leading from the front, Andy caused havoc in the Inst back line whilst tireless working back to snuff out numerous opposition attacks.
