Last gasp Cobane try salvages victory

CLOGHER Valley’s first XV players showed their mettle in Galway on Saturday when they battled back from the brink of defeat to earn a deserved victory at Galwegians by the narrowest of margins.

Stephen Bothwell’s men looked all set for victory at their fellow newly promoted rivals, having engineered a 15-0 lead by the 50th minute thanks to tries from Aaron Dunwoody and Matthew Bothwell, one of which was converted by David Maxwell, who also kicked a penalty.

Unfortunately for the travelling faithful, their nerves were then tested to the limit as Galwegians came roaring back to life, capitalising on a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes and one questionable decision by the match officials.

It was just after the hour mark when the home side secured their first points of the game when Oisin Halpin scored a try converted by Stevie Mannion and five minutes later the alarm bells in the Clogher ranks started to ring when Finn Tracey doubled their advantage to leave just one point between the teams as Mannion added the extras with an excellent kick from out wide.

And with nine minutes to go, the home side were in front after Treacy raced through after an intercept to score what they thought was the winning try, again superbly converted by Mannion.

The Clogher contingent were less than impressed by the award of that score, however, claiming Treacy had dotted down over the dead ball line, but after initially disallowing the try, the referee conferred with his touch judge and reversed his decision. Spurred on by that sense of injustice, Clogher camped themselves in Galwegians territory and after at least 15 pick and goes, Kyle Cobane forced his way over the line, leaving Maxwell with a tricky conversion to win the match. The outhalf split the posts with aplomb, much to his, his team-mates and Bothwell’s relief.

The Clogher head coach believes Saturday’s win could provide plenty of impetus ahead of their next set of fixtures which includes clashes against UL Bohemians at The Cran and a trip to near neighbours Dungannon.

“It’s huge in the mental state of the boys because you’re now in the right half of the table rather than the wrong half,” he said.

“When we went in to that game, yes Galwegians had lost two games, but they were still only one point behind us, so there was nothing between us. It was absolutely massive to get that win.

“I would have been devastated had we lost that match because we were in control. The boys showed a hell of a lot of character, we’re delighted.”