By DAN RYAN The Cowra Magpies have swooped a close victory against Eugowra, in what coach Phil Ingram said was a 'nail biting' game, with Cowra securing the win with 38-36 when the full time bell sounded. The home game at Sid Kallas Oval on Sunday, was matched with victories across the whole club, with the youth league and women's teams also winning. "It was a really good day for us and the club as a whole, we opened up a new ladies shed, with change rooms for both away and home teams. The ladies and youth league also got wins for themselves as well." Mr Ingram said. The match marked the ANZAC round, with players wearing a memorial jersey for the match. "There's over five hundred names of people who are from Cowra who were in the war, and it was special day for the team." Mr Ingram said. While last week's game saw Blayney forfeit due to injuries, Mr Ingram admitted that this was something of a 'blessing in disguise' which gave the Magpies the chance to heal some injuries previously suffered by the team, which faced a tough game against Eugowra. "They're a really tough side." Mr Ingram said, looking back to a game last year that the Magpies also pulled together in similar circumstances. "They'd be one of our first real tests for the year. We played last year in Eugowra, and once again got over them with a late try just like this game at home." Cowra's performance opened well, with discipline and what Ingram had previously described as 'Magpies football.' "As a group, we started off a bit shaky, with a dropped ball here or there. But once we got into our work we dominated. With our control and ball movement, I'd say we really cemented our authority on them, but at points put our cue in the rack, as they say - and shut up shop, moving away from what was working for us. It gave Eugowra a sniff," he said. Eugowra took the chance to go for more than a sniff, closing the gap right up until match was drawing to a close. "You give any team an opportunity in this competition, with good field positions, they'll get a bit of confidence and score a couple of tries - Eugowra surely did that," he said. "They scored a try with about five minutes to go, putting Eugowra in front." Luke Kinsey crashed over from dummy half at the end of the game, with Ricky Whitton able to kick a goal, scraping a victory by two points. Mr Ingram said Cowra was fortunate to come away from the win, exploiting some ill discipline shown by Eugowra. "They toughed it out, there was a lot of heavy hitting. Eugowra's a really big side, very physical - and we matched them, giving as good as we got - but we do needed to be a bit smarter. When we were doing that, it was working really well for us, making metres and putting the pressure on. We did go away from that. " "We'll take the points, of course." Mr Ingram said, adding that Cowra would continue to work on their game, with recognition for star players showing skill and leadership. "Another great player was Tyler Nobes, he was cool, calm and collected. He was voted player's player for the game, so hopefully we can get more out of him and stamp some authority as being one of the top halves in the game." Mr Ingram said Samuel Frazer was also valuable player, marking him for his tenacity on-field, particularly against the large forward Eugowra had brought to play.
