STAR man LCpl Mikey McDonald was left buzzing as the Royal Engineers completed an emotional third consecutive Corps Championship Division One victory \u2013 and a third straight success against arch-rivals the Royal Artillery.<\/p>\n
The Army scrum-half and German international put in a magnificent performance as his side overturned a 22-15 deficit early in the second half \u2013 also down to 13 men \u2013 to eventually run out 37-27 winners in Aldershot.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the triumph, Mikey started: \u201cI still find this fixture bigger than any international game I\u2019ve played \u2013 going against the Gunners is so meaningful and unmatched to anything else I play.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nerve-racking, emotional and beyond a rugby match, it\u2019s a dogfight, a scrap and I’m grateful for the win.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlaying the Gunners is always the hardest game of our season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a very good few days (Germany had stunned Belgium 21-11 five days before) and I\u2019m so glad we\u2019ve managed to win the Corps league three times on the bounce now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sappers made a great start as Spr Jack Johnson converted a Spr Ogunwole try, only for RA to hit back with a Bdr Pete Austin maul try added to by Bdr Owain Davies.<\/p>\n
Spr Vili Tabuatamata put the Engineers back in front before Army ace Austin levelled, and another red shirt, Sgt Connor O\u2019Reilly, grabbed his side\u2019s third score to give them a 17-12 lead.<\/p>\n
McDonald kicked a penalty to cut the gap on the stroke of half-time, but his side had already lost Cpl Eyres to a high-tackle yellow at the end of the first quarter when two more for the same offence arrived early in the second period.<\/p>\n
Austin completed his hat-trick for 22-15, but RE rallied incredibly with tries from Spr Qiolevu, Ogunwole and Spr Komaitai, two McDonald conversions and a penalty completing a 22-point blitz which turned the game on its head.<\/p>\n
Gnr Vosanibole collected a late consolation for the Gunners, but it was not enough.<\/p>\n
And Mikey explained it was the resilience at the start of the second half which was key to the Sappers\u2019 triumph, stating: \u201cThe boys fronted up even when we had the yellow cards and were under the cosh on our own five-metre line \u2013 we put in a shift and came away with the win.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur defence is the best part of the team, we rely on it a lot to win games and teams don\u2019t ever tend to go through us \u2013 they can try and go round us but even then that\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo hold them out with 13 men for as long as we did was out of this world. It was very hard because they\u2019re a good side, but when we got into their half, we looked so dangerous with our back three.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a massive statement and shows how much dog we\u2019ve got in our team. A lot of sides would have put their heads down at that point (22-15) and bowed over, but I don\u2019t know what it is about the Engineers, we generate some energy and three Corps titles in a row and three Canonball trophies as well, it doesn\u2019t get much better.\u201d<\/p>\n
An intriguing sub-plot to the contest was the number of Red Shirts-capped players on both sides, and Mikey said it added extra spice to the game.<\/p>\n
He revealed: \u201cI know quite a few boys from the Army side who play for the Gunners, and I feel like every time we play them they try to target the link between me and JJ (fly-half Jack Johnson).<\/p>\n
\u201cThey try and put me under a lot of pressure.”<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a big rivalry.”<\/p>\n
While victory was hugely satisfying to the Sappers, it was tinged with sadness following the passing of a member of their backroom staff the night before the game.<\/p>\n
And Mikey reaffirmed it had been an emotional day as he concluded: \u201cA few lads turned up with their heads down, but having rallied everyone up in the changing room, we had a chat and to come away with the win for him was huge.\u201d<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Words \u00a9 Richard Ashton<\/p>\n
All images – Alligin Photography \u00a9 Andrew Fosker<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
IMAGE GALLERY<\/h3>\n
A full gallery of images from the match is available\u00a0HERE<\/a>\u00a0images are free to download for personal use.\u00a0 Create an account, use the add to cart function and follow the check out process.<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t Tickets for the 2024 Inter Service Championship matches are on sale now!<\/p>\n To purchase yours click the links below;<\/p>\n Saturday 4th May | Army v Navy | Twickenham |\u00a0BUY TICKETS<\/a><\/p>\nINTER SERVICE CHAMPIONSHIP<\/h3>\n