By Tallon Smith

They may have left it late, but the Tumut Blues made their southern trip a worthwhile one, taking the two points with a 34-28 win over the Albury Thunder at Greenfield Park on Sunday afternoon.

After a match that featured five lead changes before ending up 28-all late in the second half, the decisive moment came in the 77th minute as Tumut fullback Malik Aitken weaved his way through the Albury defensive line to race away and score in the northeastern corner and set his side up for victory.

Blues coach Dean Bristow said that his side were far below their best, and did well to claim the victory in the end.

“We were just happy to get away with the two points to be honest,” he said.

“It was probably our worst performance of the year, it was a stop-start match, a lot of errors involved, [and] we were just lucky to take our opportunities when they presented themselves.

“We had a few special occasions today and the boys rose to the challenge and just did enough to get over the line.”

When asked about the period where Albury recovered a 10 point deficit to lock the game up at 28-all with 11 minutes to play, Bristow said the challenged presented to his side was a big one.

“If I’m being honest, I thought we had our backs against the wall,” he said.

“They had all the momentum, we went through a spell there where we completed one from six sets there where they got that momentum swing.

“I honestly turned to the bench and I said, ‘I don’t know how we’re going to get the footy down the other end’ and then our fullback Malik cut them up the middle and managed to pull something out of a hat.

“We had our backs against the wall, I honestly thought we were gone, but we have credit to Mal who saved the day there for us.”

As for the emergence of Aitken in the custodial role for the Tumutians, his coach said the young star’s stocks are rising rapidly after some brilliant performances to start 2024.

“He scored three of the best tries you’ll see last week,” Bristow said.

“He’s a young kid who was on the wing for us the last three [or] four years and he’s got a go at fullback this year and he’s taken it with both arms.

“He’s electric off the mark as blokes have seen today and throughout the game.”

On the other side of the ledger, the home side were without Coach Justin Carney, who was ruled out with illness, leaving the side without his much-needed experience in what was a tough tussle.

Albury hooker Blake Grounds said despite the loss, there were some positives to be taken out of the Thunder’s resilient showing.

“I think we kept showing up for each other, each week we do, just a few sloppy mistakes and giving away penalties, calls not going our way, hurt us I think,” he said.

“[If we] focus on attack and [defence], we’re a bit sloppy in areas, so once we work on those couple of things I think we should be right.

“[Justin] not being there always hurts, he’s a massive impact on and off the field, so it’d be good to have him back next week hopefully.

“[We’ll] definitely take something out of it.”

Elsewhere in other matches, the Gundagai Tigers scored a big win over the Wagga Brothers in cool conditions at ANZAC Park.

The Tigers opened up a 14-6 lead at the break, before piling on five tries to two in the second half for a comfortable home victory. 

Royce Tout and Kennedy Kilanda led the charge for the home side with each crossing for doubles, as Gundagai moved into third following South City’s loss.

Gallery: Gundagai v Brothers – ANZAC Park

Speaking of the Bulls, they scored a 26-22 win over a gallant Temora Dragons outfit at Nixon Park. 

Coach Cleveland McGhie was one of four try scorers for the Bulls, while the evergreen Kyle McCarthy continued his timeless form booting five crucial goals to seal the victory.

Finally, in the battle of the blue and red sides, it was the Young Cherrypickers who took the spoils with a 22-18 win over the injury-hit Wagga Kangaroos at McDonald’s Park.

The ‘Pickers now sit a game and a half clear at the top of the table following Temora’s loss, setting the Young side up for a big finish as they look to end a 33-year First Grade Premiership drought.

The competition has a bye round next up for the Long Weekend, before fixtures resume on the weekend of the 15th/16th.