CITY of Derry Ladies put up a good fight in the Rosie Stewart Ulster Cup Final on Sunday, but in the end Cooke came out comfortable 33-9 winners. However the half-time score did not fairly reflect a first half which saw the City of Derry ladies have more than 50 per cent possession and territory. At 12-3, the Derry team looked well within reach of pulling off a Welsh-style comeback and certainly, for their parts, the belief was there. Unfortunately it was not to be the Derry girls' day. Five minutes into this encounter, Cooke won a ball against the head inside the Derry half and, from there, their speedy outside centre was allowed to cut her way through to score near the posts, making the conversion a formality. Lack of concentration from Derry shortly thereafter led to the recently capped Ireland full-back score out wide to leave the score 12-0. This was against the run of play as Derry had spent long periods encamped in the opposition "22" with no gain, much to the disappointment of their vociferous supporters who had made the trip to the Omagh Accies ground. Cooke indiscipline allowed Rachel Lennox, who had an excellent game with the boot, to slot over a beautifully struck penalty, having just narrowly missed a previous penalty from far out. A prolonged period of pressure from the Derry pack at the start of the second half led to another Cooke infringement which Lennox punished to bring the score to 12-6. The kick-off thereafter caught Derry on the hop and, again swift handling by the Cooke three-quarters allowed their full-back in for a second try which was converted to leave the score at 19-6. Almost immediately thereafter the Derry girls were guilty of lack of concentration again which led to the Cooke full-back scoring her hat-trick to bring the score to 26-6. Derry seemed to be galvanised by this latter score and spent much time in the Cooke half. Frustratingly this pressure proved fruitless and against the run of play, Cooke scored through their back-line to take the score to 33-6. The Derry girls never gave up and camped in the Cooke 22, this time the pressure resulted in a penalty which Lennox knocked over with aplomb to bring the final score to 33-9. The Derry girls conducted themselves with composure throughout which was a stark contrast to the Cooke team, whose lack of control led to a high penalty count and whose second row was sin-binned on the 72nd minute. Without their inspirational captain, Di Nixon, Derry lacked a little direction, but all players can take away positive lessons from this encounter with a team who lie in the top three in AIL Division One. Louise Clarke had an outstanding game alongside Noreen Nethercott, the scrum-half, and the centre partnership of Kelly Holmes and Bridin McDermott defended well against a back-line that boasted three former and one current Irish international. Coaches James Doherty and Sean O'Kane were full of praise for the level of commitment shown by the Derry girls, who, until this match, had not conceded a try since 25th October last year. City of Derry ladies have three League matches to play and, despite a number of injuries in particular to Nixon and Stacey Jackson, it is hoped that the North West side can perform well enough to snatch top place from rivals Old Belvedere and Portlaoise, whom the Derry girls face next weekend in Leinster.