Chae Brangman has defied considerable odds, overcoming a potential career-ending injury to make a return to action for Devonshire Cougars.

The striker ruptured his Achilles tendon during Cougar’s 4-0 win over Dandy Town in the Dudley Eve Trophy quarter-finals at PHC Field in October last year, an injury that cast doubts on whether Brangman would play again. However, the determined forward refused to throw in the towel and, after regaining his fitness, has made a remarkable comeback 13 months after being struck down.

“Everyone has their different opinions on the injury and many people said you don’t come back the same, which I understand,” Brangman told The Royal Gazette. “Other people say that’s pretty much the kiss of death for sport and it’s the injury that you don’t come back from, but I never let that get to me.

“The main thing was to try, and I am not coming back to be scared to go into tackles or scared to get fouled. If it happens again, it happens again, but I am not going to put 50 per cent in; I am putting 100 per cent in because I wouldn’t feel comfortable getting back on the field and being afraid to do certain things that I know instinctively I will do.

“It’s just at that point I asked myself, ‘Do I want to play again or do I not want to play again?’ and of course I chose to play. It’s the risk I was willing to take.”

The 29-year-old marked his comeback in fine style, coming off the bench as an 80th-minute substitute and scoring in his team’s 5-0 demolition of Hamilton Parish in a Premier Division clash at Wellington Oval a couple of weeks ago.

“There is no better feeling coming back from a year of no football,” Brangman said.

“The camaraderie, getting back into training and trying to make it as competitive as possible for those game days — that’s where the training really shows.

“I have been doing some training on my own and training with the team, and you get back into the habit of getting into situations where you’ve got to be clinical. It’s almost instinctive to get in front of goal and try to put it into the back of the net.

“Before I even started the game, the only thing I was thinking about was that we need the three points. When I got on the field and saw that the game was not in reach for Hot Peppers, I was just going to have fun, which resulted in me enjoying the little bit of time, and it was definitely exciting having not scored a goal for a while.”

Cougars have struggled this season and are set to take on Young Men’s Social Club at Police Field at 3 pm on Sunday.

“Our team is starting to realise that we are capable, and we have more depth than we thought we did,” Brangman said.

“Once we start being more convincing in our wins, I think that’s going to give us a boost when we play against teams like North Village and PHC, who we haven’t had the best record against this past year or so.”

After suffering defeats last week, North Village and Devonshire Colts will attempt to get their title challenges back on track when they face each other at Wellington Oval at 3 pm on Saturday.

Village lost 2-1 to Paget, while Colts were beaten in a seven-goal thriller by St George’s, as both were leapfrogged by PHC, who jumped to the top of the Premier Division.

Village’s conquerors, Paget, are also in action on Saturday, playing Wolves at Southampton Oval at 3 pm.

League leaders PHC travel to Goose Gosling Field to play Dandy Town on Sunday at 3 pm, the same time St George’s take on Hamilton Parish at Wellington Oval.