CHAMPIONS!
THEY'VE done it. Cookstown Hockey Club have been crowned Podium for Sport Premier League hockey champions for 2008.
A generation after their last success, the Reds secured their second championship title last Saturday with a 1-1 at rivals Banbridge.
A large Cookstown crowd made the trip to Havelock Park, hopeful the title could be secured a game early.
A Godfrey Irwin goal in the second half secured the draw they needed and amidst joyous scenes, Club captain Ian Hutchinson lifted the Keighty Cup to get the celebrations underway.
The match itself was by no means a classic and the occasion seemed to get to the Reds early on.
In a tentative, nervous and disjointed first half, Cookstown looked a shadow of the side that had powered their way to the position of champions-elect.
But all that changed after Colin Dowds slid in to open the scoring for Banbridge.
All of a sudden, Cookstown realised what they had to do and rose to the occasion; producing their own brand of relentless, attacking hockey they are so famous for.
Following the opening goal, Bann didn't get another shot on goal and didn't manage a penalty corner throughout the game.
Bann did their best to stem the tide and Cookstown's dangerman, Andy Barbour, was marked tightly throughout the game.
he did manage to find space on a few occasions however; firing narrowly wide on 36 minutes and deflected a shot onto the post three minutes later.
The attacking juggernaut that is the Reds heaved and pushed throughout the entire second half. The inevitable and much celebrated goal eventually came 10 minutes into the half.
Godfrey Irwin stroked home a low and vicious shot from a penalty corner variation to secure his place in the Cookstown Hockey Club Hall of Fame as the man who scored 'that goal.'
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Weather for Belfast
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 10 C to 21 C
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Wind direction: South east
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