Team of the Year Finalist: Provincial glory for Co Cavan RFC
The Co Cavan RFC Men’s First XV created history when they got their hands on the prestigious Gordon West Cup with a 21-15 win over Lisburn RFC in the final at Ravenhill.
Having enjoyed a tremendous run to the decider, including wins over the PSNI (40-3) in the quarter-final and Strabane (19-17 on aggregate over two legs) at the penultimate stage, the Cavanmen went into the final against a strong Lisburn side at the home of Ulster rugby with quiet confidence.
A try from Ben Kirkwood, which was converted, saw Lisburn open an early 7-0 lead but Co Cavan were undeterred. Cavan won a penalty and took a quick tap and through several phases with some great carries from Josh Cherry and sticky hands from Ben Reilly, eventually saw an opportunity for co-captain Cormac Cahill to power his way over for a try with 13 minutes played, the conversion was made by Brandon Cooke to tie the game at 7-7.
Cavan, who defended superbly all day, fell 10-7 behind in the 24th minute but after two penalties gained in a row, Cavan found themselves with a line-out on the five-metre line where they chose to maul it over line for a try by Gary Gillespie, the conversion was successful to make it 14-10, and this is how the game remained for the rest of the first half. The maul was a very effective tool in Cavan’s attack and Lisburn had difficulty defending it.
A Lisburn try 10 minutes into the second half (unconverted) saw the Co Down club snatch back the lead. A good carry by Dillon Cooke on 19 minutes after some slick interplay with Ciaran Crowe saw Cavan advance to the 10-metre line. After maintaining possession and several phases of play with some wonderful carries by Lloyd Hastings, Karl Heaslip and Alastair Trenier saw Brandon Cooke make a significant break to take Cavan within five metres of the Lisburn try line.
From there, Cavan eventually forced their way over for another try by Gary Gillespie, the conversion was kicked and with 22 minutes gone the score was 21-15 to Cavan. And that was how it stayed, with the Cavan lads defended like their lives depended on it and holding out for a deserved and famous win.
Team: Cormac Cahill (cc), Alastair Trenier (cc), Cillian Murtagh Patterson, Gary Gillespie, Lloyd Hastings, Karl Heaslip, Ben Reilly, Josh Cherry, Wayne Mackin, Brandon Cooke, James Dunne, Dillon Cooke, Niall Ward, Ciaran Crowe. Subs: Irwin Heaslip, John Dunne, Philip Speares, Cian Daly, Padraig Sweeney. Head coach: Rory Gleeson, Asst coach: John Denning.