Cooke have had mixed fortunes in the league in the run-up to Christmas winning 3 games against Boyne (13-10), Clanwilliam (31-7) and Clonakilty (15-7) and losing hard fought games against Highfield (13-16), UL Bohemians (0-24) and Shannon (14-17).  This run sees them sitting 5th in the table one place off the semi-final playoffs and all to play for in their final two games against Blackrock (March) and Galwegians (April).

They have a long wait though as the All Ireland League Super Cup kicks off in January with Cooke receiving a bye in the first round (22 Jan) and drawn in the top half of the Cup sees a route to the semi-finals a promising one.

All Ireland League Division 2 North

Three other Ulster teams have been in action pre-Christmas with Armagh, Enniskillen and Carrick all experiencing victories along the way.

Carrick with their dominating pack drew their first match with St. Mary’s (3-3) though chances were there for a win.  A trip away to 2nd place Navan, proved a hard fought battle with the home team winning 53-0.  This spurned an immediate reaction and in the following weeks won home games against Trinity and Armagh, 17-15 and 12-0 respectively.  Carrick are now mid table in 5th place with Navan to come, a trip away to Trinity and Old Belvedere being the final visitors of the season.

Armagh, suffering to the new laws and regulations and having to postpone fixtures, finally got their campaign started with a draw away to Trinity (10-10).  They then suffered defeats against St. Mary’s (6-15), Carrick (0-12) and Enniskillen (7-22).  This leaves the side propping up the table but with an important fixture against Trinity to come, Armagh could easily rise through the ranks.  Their remaining fixtures are Old Belvedere, Trinity, St. Mary’s and Enniskillen.

Enniskillen have had a superb start to their league campaign with 5 wins from 5 games beating teams such as Navan (7-6), Trinity (34-5), Old Belvedere (48-0), Navan (13-12) and Armagh (22-7).  They went into the Christmas break top of the table with maximum points and with the remaining fixtures being Trinity, St Mary’s, Carrick and Old Belvedere, only complacency, surely, will stop them from winning the league and being only the second team in Ulster to enter the 1st Division. 

All Ireland League Super Cup

Enniskillen, Armagh and Carrick don’t have the luxury of a wait before their cup ties.  Armagh faces a difficult encounter away to Navan, Enniskillen entertain Trinity and Carrick have the daunting trip away to play 1st division team Boyne.  The fixtures will take place on the 22nd January with the next round taking place on the 19 February.

Good luck to all the clubs for the remainder of their season and more information will be updated soon.