A sun-kissed Ravenhill provided a glorious theatre for Ards 4ths' dreams of capturing a fifth McCambley Cup in the last 10 years. With Cookstown turning out in black, Ards adorned their unfamiliar red kit at the home of provincial rugby with a large turnout of supporters from both towns to enjoy the game.

It was Cookstown who started well using the conditions to pepper the Ards back three with garryowens. These were proving difficult to field in the bright sunlight and a few uncharacteristic errors from Ards allowed the mid-Ulster men to get good field position. From there Cookstown applied pressure and drew a penalty from the Ards defence which was well converted by their scrum half Ciaran Currie. Ards 0 v Cookstown 3

Ards' response was swift and decisive with a series of attacks up the blind side taking play deep into Cookstown territory before the ball was transferred to winger Gordy McBride who fended his opposite number before touching down in the corner for the afternoon's first try. Ards 5 v Cookstown 3

Cookstown then reacted to that setback by increasing the intensity at the breakdown again drawing a series of penalties from referee Eoin Carey. Currie converted two of these, the second a long range effort from just inside the half way line, to give Cookstown a 9-5 lead at the twenty minute mark.

Again Ards responded with a strong attack probing the Cookstown defence with a multi-phased passage of play before veteran fullback Cyril Stocker exploited a gap to break through and score in the corner, the conversion was missed. Ards 10 v Cookstown 9

Cookstown proved their resilience on their path to the final, and showed this character again by regaining the lead with a fourth penalty as Currie maintained his 100% kicking record. Ards 10 v Cookstown 12

With the lead changing hands on six occasions in the first half hour, it looked like these well matched teams would engage in a closely fought final but in the following twenty minutes Ards hit their stride with a pulsating period of rugby that blew their opponents away.

International coaches talk about the 'championship' minutes either side of half time and Ards peaked in this spell with two tries either side of the break. First up was Gordy McBride with a carbon copy of his first score, McBride has been Ards' top scorer this season and its easy to see why as he finished stylishly at the Aquinas end. Ards 15 v Cookstown 12

As the Ards pack made a huge effort approaching the break Cyril Stocker got on the end of a powerful attack to score his second in the right hand corner to leave the half time score Ards 20 - Cookstown 12.

The first score of the second half is always a critical point and again it was Ards setting the tone with a series of close in drives stretching the Cookstown defence before scrum half Andrew Matchett spotted a gap and scored close to the posts with Simon Crowe adding the extras. Ards 27 v Cookstown 12

This pivotal score deflated Cookstown and Ards went straight back on the attack, strong carries from back rows Andy Crozier and Keith McIlwaine took play deep into the Cookstown 22 before Matchett fed the other member of the triumvirate Michael Higginson who powered over the line at the memorial end to extend Ards lead to 20 points. Ards 32 v Cookstown 12

At this stage Ards' manager Stuart Stevenson went to his bench with Nigel Lynch, Andy Todd and Trevor Spence joining winger Willie McAllister in adding fresh legs to the Ards effort. Quite often finals become stale low scoring affairs with defences on top but not on Saturday as Ards next score was a real classic.

The Ards pack secured good lineout ball and drove the maul to the Cookstown 22 before Matchett fed Bell. The Ards captain feigned to feed his decoy runners Shane Stewart and Simon Crowe before releasing Stocker at pace through the middle. Cyril was in top gear and accelerated round the cover defence to score under the posts sending the Ards fans into jubilation, the applause was still going as Crowe added the conversion. Ards 39 v Cookstown 12

With a 39-12 lead Ards intensity dropped momentarily and Cookstown scored with a well taken try following a bright counterattack from the speedy Michael McKeown, with Currie adding the extras. Ards 39 v Cookstown 19

The Ards defence has been a major factor in their success this season and this was the case again on Saturday with standout tackles from McBride in the first half and David Savage in the second punctuating the overall team effort in this aspect.

Ards introduced hooker Gareth Paden to the front row and got back on the front foot again with Stewart and Todd making significant in-roads. As the Ards backline continued to stretch the Cookstown defence, Stocker fed McAllister who still had lots to do but the pacey winger used his speed and power to evade his opposite number before crashing through the cover defence to score at the memorial corner and take Ards beyond 40 points. Ards 44 v Cookstown 19

With the remaining minutes scoreless Carey blew the final whistle to the joy of Ards players and supporters and minutes later The Black Knights captain Stevie Bell was receiving the McCambley Cup from Ulster Branch President John Robinson. In the last ten years Ards have been to seven finals and won the cup on five occasions, a remarkable achievement from all involved and this was celebrated long into the night at Hamilton Park on Saturday.

Ards squad:
Geoff Garrett, Andrew Fletcher, Gary Dempsey, David Savage, Bryan McFarland, Keith McIlwaine, Michael Higginson, Andrew Crozier, Andrew Matchett, Stephen Bell (captain), John McCartney, Shane Stewart, Simon Crowe, Gordy McBride, Cyril Stocker, Gareth Paden, Nigel Lynch, Trevor Spence, Andy Todd, Willie McAllister, team manager Stuart Stevenson, team medic Jimmy Webster.