By Jamie Parsons

At Rankins Springs on Saturday the Proten Cup finals went the same way much of the regular season went, with four very close games.

The Men’s competition had four draws this season after there were zero in the previous five years, and two more games on Saturday followed the theme and ended up in extra time.

Women’s Games

Rankins Springs Dragonettes enjoyed hosting rights in their return to the finals after missing out in 2023.

Despite that the Narrandera Lizards got out to an early lead and were up 10-0 at halftime.

In the second half though the Dragonettes dominated the opening stages, scoring three tries to be up 14-10 with five minutes left.

A try out wide with a couple minutes left on the clock levelled the scores, with the conversion unsuccessful.

No more points could be added and the first game of the 2024 finals series went to Golden Point.

A scoreless first five minutes almost led to a scoreless second five minutes, but with a minute remaining Zoey Ingram scored her second of the day to keep the Lizards alive.

Rankins Springs were heartbreakingly eliminated but had an excellent overall season, improving over 2023’s last-place finish.

In the major semi it was a repeat of 2023’s 1st v 2nd with the Ivanhoe Hens attempting to find their first win over the Barellan Rams on their sixth attempt, which included both last year’s major semi and Grand Final.

Barellan started in their usual dominant way, jumping out to a 12-0 lead by halftime.

The Hens though would not go away and forced their way back into the game to trail 12-10, before a try by Nancy Tale very close to full time had them ahead, and the scores would stay that way with Ivanhoe winning 14-12.

This was Barellan’s first loss after a 14 game winning streak since the start of 2023.

Ivanhoe go straight through to the Grand Final with Barellan facing Narrandera in the preliminary this week.

Men’s Games

A similar story in the men’s finals with the minor semi ending up a golden point thriller as well. Despite a sound beating last week in the same fixture, Ivanhoe started the better with an early long range try to Lochyer Brennan.

A try each to both teams had Ivanhoe still leading 8-6 at halftime, and more trading tries in the second half had the Roosters still ahead 20-18 with only minutes left.

A last minute penalty saw Noah Forbutt, already 2 tries and 3 goals to his name, slot the penalty goal to lead into extra time.

Ivanhoe’s big game experience won through in the end, with a try in extra time ending the game 24-20 and keeping the Roosters alive.

Ivanhoe qualify for the preliminary final while Barellan are eliminated after an impressive season, also making the finals after a last-place finish in 2023.

In the men’s major semi, Narrandera continued their long unbeaten streak but didn’t have it all their own way, with Rankins Springs impressing on their home turf early.

A try to prop Jason Cronin had the Dragons in front early, before Kyle Prior hit back for Narrandera.

A Damian Walker penalty goal on halftime had the Dragons in front at the break 8-4.

A couple of tries to Lizard Caleb Atkinson and one to Dragon Jesse James had the Lizards up in the second half, 16-12, and a weight of possession and a hefty penalty count wore down the Dragons until Kyle Prior got his second to wrap the game up, final score 22-12.

Narrandera qualify for their third straight Grand Final while Rankins Springs will play Ivanhoe in the preliminary final.

Final Scores

Women’s

Minor Semi-Final – Narrandera 18 (Zoey Ingram 2, Juhleeya Bright, Mackenzie Mohr tries; Kiara Crowe 1 goal) defeated Rankins Springs 14 (Tash Tuckett, Maddi Ramponi, Georgia West tries; Tash Tuckett 1 goal)

Major Semi-Final – Ivanhoe 14 (Nancy Tale, Shailyn Williams, Tangata Toru tries; Shailyn Williams 1 goal) defeated Barellan 12 (Amie Fazekas, Tommi Booth tries; Monique Higgins 2 goals)

Men’s

Minor Semi-Final – Ivanhoe 24 (Ethan Harris 2, Lochyer Brennan, Jermaine Dixon, Phillip Hunter tries; Tarelle Jones 2 goals) defeated Barellan 20 (Noah Forbutt 2, Tom Bartter tries; Noah Forbutt 4 goals)

Major Semi-Final – Narrandera 22 (Kyle Prior 2, Caleb Atkinson 2 tries; Brayden Ingram 3 goals) defeated Rankins Springs 12 (Jason Cronin, Jesse James tries; Damian Walker 2 goals)

Preliminary Finals Preview

This Saturday’s preliminary finals will take place at Goolgowi after Barellan were unable to host due to their ground being already booked by the Barellan Two Blues (AFL) and unable to find a replacement ground closer by.

Women’s – Barellan v Narrandera

2023’s premiers will take on 2022’s premiers as Barellan look to bounce back from their first loss.

It may be the loss they needed to bring them back to earth and Narrandera will need a massive effort to overcome the Rams in this one.

The last time these two met it was a 28-0 shutout to Barellan in Round 4.

Previous Preliminary Final Results:

2022 – Goolgowi 10-8 Rankins Springs

2023 – Ivanhoe 18-10 Narrandera

Men’s – Rankins Springs v Ivanhoe

Rankins Springs also suffered their first loss of the season last week and time will tell how they bounce back from the disappointment at losing at home.

Ivanhoe will play their third consecutive prelim final after defeating Hillston in both 2022 & 2023.

These two met once this year all the way back in Round 1 for a 16-all draw, will we see another golden point game here?

Previous Preliminary Final Results:

2019 – Narrandera 28-18 Rankins Springs

2021 – Rankins Springs 20-0 Barellan

2022 – Ivanhoe 28-10 Hillston

2023 – Ivanhoe 26-4 Hillston