The gordon west cup has surely seldom seen a turnaround in performance the likes of which occurred in Strabane on Saturday past.
Donegal arrived for a virtual knock out game in the final round of the gordon west qualifiers, the winners assured of a quarter final berth as runner-up.
Having beaten Donegal recently on their patch, Strabane were well fancied to progress, but it was the visitors who showed up in the game first, and how.
Within 3 minutes of the kick off, their behemoth of a tight head prop had steamrollered over the home winger to score in the corner, unconverted.
To be fair to norman lindsay, if he’d have been driving his jeep on the field, he still wouldn’t have been able to stop the score.
The first alarm bell had been rung, but the snooze button was hit.
Donegal were playing all the rugby and Strabane were unable to put any phases together, with continual knock ons and turnovers.
We tried to go wide far too early, without being prepared to make the hard yards up the middle to suck in the well organised and aggressive Donegal defence.
As has often been said, you have to earn the right to play wide, and this mantra should be “bate” into anyone that ever picks up a rugby ball.
Donegal used a sensible kicking game, picking up on Strabane’s indecisiveness and lack of familiarity in the back 3.
Usual full back dean mccarter had been pressed into the scrumhalf roll to cover for the influential(but injured) timmy cummings, and flanker andy sayers was on the wing.
This situation was exacerbated very early in the game when experienced fullback stevey “stretch” campbell sprained his ankle, and had to shuffle over to the wing.
Soupy played on manfully for the rest of the game, but it meant norman had to drop back from the wing to cover 15 and we were looking shaky.
The visitors continued to pressure Strabane and the usually rock solid defence broke again on 20 minutes, when a well worked move saw their winger go over in the right corner for another unconverted score.
10 points down and the alarms were getting very loud. We were not playing at all well, but if we could only get to half-time and regroup without shipping any more points, we might have a chance.
Unfortunately the team went into a deep slumber and from a standing start and 10 metres behind an innocuous looking ruck the Donegal openside had time to get out his sat-nav, plot a course to the line and score the softest of tries,
running past at least 4 would-be-tacklers.
Losing 15-0 at half time, Strabane looked dead and buried, and many spectators were talking about going for an early visit to the bar, but there is no prawn sandwich brigade here and if anything, more spectators arrived to swell the vocal support –
if only the team could give them something to get behind.
The players came into the huddle like little boys who’d just had their favourite toy taken off them, and to be honest, looked a beaten side.
What was said at half time was not reported, but it should have been recorded for prosperity, or for coach willy gibson’s new job as a motivational speaker. The effect was like a bucket of liquid nitrogen down the front of the under-crackers.
From the re-start you could see that Strabane were now very much awake and refused to let that first half be remembered for a pitiful cup exit.
Strabane’s pack took charge of proceedings and mounted their first serious assault on the Donegal line. After some excellent work by the whole team, john Mitchell eventually found the first chink in the Donegal defence, and showed his pace to win the race to the line. Geoff Mealiff gratefully made up for a first half penalty miss with a solid conversion, and it was game on 7-15.
The tide seemed to be turning, but Strabane were again guilty of over-elaborating in their own 22, and after a catalogue of errors Donegal hacked through and somehow won the race for the touchdown. 20 points to the visitors, but crucially the conversion was again missed.
Alright, enough of this faffing about.
Strabane now set about a devastating 30 minutes of forward dominated annihilation.
Donegal hardly made it over half way as the home pack rose to the heights demanded by the now vociferous home support.
The team ethic was wonderfully demonstrated by emergency winger andy sayers, when chasing a kick ahead he not only nailed his opposite number but also bodily carried him 10 metres to the sideline. This was as good as a score, as the already pumped up lads piled in to congratulate him; even the crowd got in on the back-slapping. Pressure began to tell and the big forwards like prop hugh Flannigan and no 6 lee anderson softened up the defence and
after a break from mercurial openside eddie mccrea, dean mccarter dotted down under the sticks and it was 14-20.
The crowd, for one, were gobsmacked – the comeback was most definitely on.
Straight from the re-start, second row gordy baird took the kick and went on a bullocking rampage up the middle of the park, scattering defenders in his wake. The ball was then taken on by his second row partner and inspirational skipper, adam cummings, and the ball was only halted over the Donegal line, but unfortunately a few inches above the turf.
There then was a series of 5 metre scrums that had the home support baying for blood. Loosehead prop jimmy hamilton definitely had his dander up
and was roaring like a lion waiting to feast on a 20 stone plus tighthead/water-buffalo. (I swear i saw him licking his lips).
The scrum engaged with a shudder and the Strabane pack hit, surged again, and slid the heavier Donegal pack back towards their line. Aaron cummings broke and sucked in the cover and fed the supporting dean mccarter for another try. This left the score 19-20 with the tricky conversion to come – squeaky bum time. Up stepped the ice-cool Geoff Mealiff to take the conversion, care of the post and the crossbar, but as he said “2 points is 2 points no matter how they go over”. Strabane were unbelievably winning , 21-20. The crowd were in raptures and were egging the team on to finish the job and go for the kill, but a wounded animal is still very dangerous, and Donegal were not to be treated disdainfully.
A penalty awarded to the homesters in a very kickable position could have secured a very useful 4 point cushion, but the skipper knew where to keep the Donegal pack, and that was on the rack, back in their 22. Adam cummings showed cajones the size of nigel brady’s (Ulster’s stand in skipper and folk hero) and elected to kick for the corner. With the lineout being ruled by no8 aaron cummings and gary smyth’s darts rivalling those of phil “the power” Taylor, the inevitable catch and drive made ominous progress towards the try-line.
Donegal were now fighting for their gordon west lives and with tremendous effort held the Strabane men out and even succeeded in driving them back, but the effort of this cost the last of their energy reserves. A lightning break from out half brian allen was well supported as always by eddie mccrea, who off loaded to the now well settled no 9 dean mccarter.
From the 22, deano broke the dam and he broke through a tackle and dragged their 12 over the line to extinguish the visitors challenge. The crowd were in raptures of ecstasy not seen since the day club president gerry taylor ordered twice the normal amount of pie and beans, and from the depths of despair, the Strabane team and supporters were in rugby heaven.
We must thank Donegal for a wonderful game and the manner in which they took defeat and wished us well, but the last praise must go to the 15 men on the pitch. The effort to drag themselves into the quarter-finals should be a source of pride to them for the rest of their rugby careers, and they now know that they can summon that kind of performance when it really matters.
What a game.
