Fourths march on in Forster Cup

The opposition on Saturday was Portadown Fourths and they provided stiff opposition, but, ultimately, Coleraine’s desire to win saw them through to the next round of the Cup. It was in the opening minutes of the game that Coleraine made the first strike.

Chris Warke picked up the ball from an attacking ruck to find little opposition on the blindside. He made the break and offloaded to Soupy Campbell who was allowed to finish under the posts. Ian young converted.

Coleraine dominated much of the open play with Mark McAfee, Andy Draycott and Dave Newman all over the opposition.

Coleraine were awarded a penalty on the Portadown 22 and chose to take a scrum. From the base Soupy Campbell made a lovely show of the ball to wrong foot the defence.

He burst through the line for his second score, again under the posts. Ian Young converted.

In the later part of the half Portadown started to come together as a team but their only attacking option was kicking for territory. Coleraine countered effectively with Clive McLaughlin and the Warke brothers punching holes in the Portadown defence.

Late in the half there was an uncharacteristic error. A weak attempt at clearing the Coleraine lines was charged down, Portadown winning the chase to the line and five points. They added another penalty just on halftime leaving the score at 14-8.

The second half produced some exciting rugby. Both teams sensed the possibility of victory and threw everything they had into the game.

Portadown tried in vain to break the backline but O’Rourke and Caulfield left no gaps in the midfield defence. Likewise, in the forwards there was a steely determination. Dixon, Burgess and Cooper were constantly on the ball and making the hard yards, backed up by Todd and Scott.

However Coleraine’s frustration allowed indiscipline to creep in. Too many penalties were awarded to Portadown giving them vital territory early in the second half. This culminated in a penalty being converted to bring the opponents to within three points.

Not long after Portadown were allowed in for another soft try. Non existent tackling allowed a straight run in to put visitors ahead for the first time. The try was converted to make the score 14-18.

Coleraine then turned up the screw. They elected to keep the ball in hand as the lineout options were limited. This allowed for an exciting finish to the game. Both sides defended with a lot of passion but ultimately Coleraine found the gap.

Coleraine were awarded a penalty inside Portadown’s 22. Coleraine tapped and let Ewan Scott drive for the line. He managed a neat side step followed by a drive towards the line.

As the line approached Ewan twisted out of the tackle falling over the line for the winning score. Ian Young again converted sealing the victory.

The game ended a few minutes later and revenge was sweet as Portadown had taken the points earlier in the season. It was a great team performance.

The Fourths now look forward to the next round and hope for another top display. The quarter final of the Forster is scheduled for March 6.