Cookstown 8 Portadown 0
A hat trick by Keith Black helped Cookstown seal an 8-0 win over Portadown and with it the Ulster Premier League title.
The match at Steelweld Park on Monday night also saw Greg Allen score his fortieth goal of the season in all competitions.
“I’m really delighted for the players, coaches and everyone involved at Cookstown at this win. We have put in a great deal of hard work to get us to this point and this is what it is all about,” said Allen.
“Becoming league champions for the sixth time sounds really good!
“This has been a season full of ups and downs, but winning Ulster was always amongst our primary goals. To have done that with a match to spare is just fantastic especially given the quality of the teams competing against us.
“We will allow ourselves a bit of time to enjoy this victory before getting ourselves ready for the EY Hockey League qualifying campaign.
“We will approach that as the final piece in this year’s puzzle. To win back into the top league where we really believe that we belong.”
The match on Monday started off at a high pace with Ryan Millar finishing from a cross. Allen then made it 2-0 after taking his time in the circle and finding the bottom corner.
Schoolboy Cole Chambers then made it 3-0 with a snapshot before Keith Black got his first of the night. The veteran robbed a Portadown midfielder of the ball before ripping it into the top corner.
Stuart Smyth got on the score list after good work from Jon Ames and Millar put him away. It was the striker’s twenty-fourth goal of this campaign.
Black then got his second, going on a mazy run from his own half before squeezing the ball in from the bye line. He completed his hat trick in the second half when he fizzed a reverse into the bottom corner.
Jon Ames finished off the scoring with a delightful squeeze shot into the turf to lift it over the advancing Portadown goalkeeper.
Cookstown: Tobias Deppermann, Matthew Rollins, Godfrey Irwin, Ryan Millar, Daniel Crooks, Keith Black, Paul Thompson, Stu Smyth, Jack Haycock, Cole Chambers, Andrew Barbour, Greg Allen, Michael Kerr, Jon Ames, Andrew McWhirter, Mark Rooney.
Solo Fuels Man of the Match: Keith Black
Cookstown finish their league campaign against Newry at home on Saturday at 2.30pm.
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cookstown | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||||
| Instonians | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| Newry | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| Mossley | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| Kilkeel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| North Down | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Raphoe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| S Antrim | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| NICS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 | ||||
| Harlequins | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 | ||||
| Portadown | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 | ||||
| Queens | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -4 | 0 |
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limavady | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cookstown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Larne | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Instonians | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Newry | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Donaghadee | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ballynahinch | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Derg Valley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Parkview | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bandon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cookstown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mossley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Portrane | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |