VALLEY COUGARS 32 NOTTINGHAM OUTLAWS 18

By Ian Lovell at Treharris RFC

Valley Cougars showed on Saturday that they continue to be a force to be reckoned with, after they beat last year’s league champions Nottingham Outlaws 32-18.

The Cougars were losing by a solitary conversion at the break but rendered their visitors scoreless in the second half.

Nottingham took the lead on seven minutes through an Oliver Dale try that Adam Cunliffe converted but struck back through a Sion Jones try on 19 minutes. Shane Lee missed the kick.

Jones, a former Widnes Vikings academy player, ran 40 metres for his and Cougars’ second try which Lee converted to give Cougars a 10-6 lead.

But Nottingham scored on the half hour. A mix up in the Cougars’ defence allowed Adrian Chaima to run through with Cunliffe adding the goal to make in 10-12 at the interval.

Cougars started the second half as the they meant to go on. Scott Giles barged over from close range just two minutes into the stanza with Lee converting.

Eight minutes later, Watton ran through for the next with Lee’s kick hitting the post, and ten minutes after that, Britton twisted his way over and Lee converted to make the score 28-12.

Stephen Page got a try back for Nottingham which Cunliffe converted but the final say went to Ethan Coombes who scored with just four minutes left on the clock.

Cougars’ coach Dafydd Hellard said: “I’m really proud of the guys today, we downplayed this fixture all week not trying to hype it up too much but we all know how much that victory was all about getting revenge from last year’s Grand Final.

“The nerves were clearly there in the first half, but after regrouping at half time and sorting out a few issues the boys came out of the blocks hard and executed our game plan perfectly.

“Credit to Nottingham they’re a tough team to break down and we knew the only joy we’d have is down the edges. I’m sure the return fixture is going to be just as exciting but for now we can enjoy that victory and look forward to our week off next week.”