Vital win for Coleraine

The win moved Coleraine within two points of Enniskillen at the bottom of the Kukri Qualifying League. Enniskillen have completed their league fixtures but the Bannsiders have two games still to play, meeting Clogher Valley and Ballymoney in the coming weeks.

Coleraine’s Norman Blair said after the match: “There is still a glimmer of hope in the league and we are now within two points of Enniskillen, with two games to go. We face Clogher Valley on April 10 and that will be a massive match for us.

“We have no games until then and hopefully we will have more of our injured players back on board and we will be fielding a strong side. Clogher Valley has a cup final on Easter Monday against Ballymoney and we also have to meet Ballymoney for the final match of the league, although the date has not been set yet.”

On Saturday injury and other commitments saw a different Coleraine line-up take the field and they dominated proceedings for the first 20 minutes. Set pieces, tackling and communication were all strong points as the match got under way.

The referee kept tight control on the game and there were a number of penalty opportunities for both sides. A long range effort from Chris Barber hit the post but two further efforts in ten minutes from Michael Griffith were on target.

The first score came when Leslie George gave a quick ball at the back of a ruck, Michael Griffith penetrating down the wing before passing to Nigel Hall to score in the corner. Griffith converted.

The second came when Darren Smyth secured turn over ball from a tackle in the Coleraine half. Smyth then made the decisive break, feeding the ball across the supporting Coleraine squad and finally releasing Stephen McKenzie to score beside the posts. The conversion brought the score to 20-0 in Coleraine’s favour.

With 15 minutes of the half to go Bootsie Butugan was yellow carded and Dromore took advantage. They scored from a driving maul to secure seven points before the break.

At the break Stephen Jefferson replaced Sam Bartlett in the front row and immediately made a big impact - for both teams.

Within five minutes Coleraine took a penalty into the corner to set up a rolling maul from a ten-metre throw in. Jefferson took the last touch and scored an unconverted try in the corner.

Three minutes later he helped the opposition when he was yellow carded, again leaving Coleraine with 14 men. Dromore took their chances and, kicking deep into Coleraine territory, they used their superior numbers to score two tries in succession, one converted.

Coleraine had to work hard in defence as the game ended. Paul Roxborough made a magnificent effort to get to an attacking Dromore winger, putting him into touch one metre from the score line. A seemingly easy Dromore penalty also went wide as Coleraine held on for a very satisfying 25-19 victory.

Norman said: “It was nice to see the boys scoring again. The entire team played very strongly and they showed great guts holding Dromore out in the final phases of the game.

“Now we have to make sure we put in a strong performance in the last two matches of the season. There is still hope and after Saturday there is an even greater sprit in the side.”

REPORT: Milne Rowntree

Also on Saturday, Coleraine Fourths lost out to Enniskillen Thirds 31-8, dashing their dream of a Forster Cup final slot.

Coleraine: L George, M Hunter, S Bartlett (S Jefferson), M Butugan, J Gault, R Gibson, S Dickey, Dennis Taylor, P Roxborough, M Griffith, S McKenzie, N Hall, C Barber, D Smyth (H Tate), N Irwin.