Cover Photo: Yass Magpies Facebook

By Tallon Smith

The Yass Magpies have pulled off a massive upset in the Canberra Raiders Cup First Grade competition, defeating the West Belconnen Warriors 14-8 at Walker Park on Saturday afternoon.

In a dour affair in extremely cold and unpleasant conditions, the Magpies crossed the line for three tries, one each to Ranapiri Baker, Ben Davis and Lane Davis, to secure a narrow victory against a Warriors side that went into the weekend with their top four hopes on the line.

Magpies Coach Adam Kyle said that the win was a big one for the Magpies, who took a clear and simple game plan into the match and executed it well enough to get the two points.

“We tried to just really simplify our game on the weekend and get back to just the basics,” he said.

“We talked about trying to hit first and get out and put a bit of pressure on them, their season was on the line and they needed to get a win against us, so we were pretty determined to put our front foot forward and knock them off. 

“Really happy to get a win, and yeah, it was tough conditions, but the boys really enjoyed the evening, so it was definitely a good one to get.”

Kyle said that the conditions on the day, which saw a temperature of just 5 degrees for most of the afternoon, were at their worst during the Reserves match, which impacted both sides’ performances and even gave some players hypothermia.

“They [the Reserves] probably got the worst of the conditions out of all the grades on the weekend, torrential rain, shooting sideways, a bit of sleet, it was horrible,” he said.

Meanwhile, in other games across the weekend, the Queanbeyan Kangaroos, Queanbeyan Blues and Belconnen United Sharks joined the Magpies in the Round 15 winners’ circle.

The Roos scored a 48-22 win over last-placed Gungahlin at Gungahlin Enclosed Oval, while the Blues defeated Goulburn 42-10, and Belconnen emerged victorious from a slugfest against Woden Valley by the narrow margin of 4-0.

Next weekend sees Round 1 finally played after its postponement back in April, with Belconnen facing Queanbeyan Roos, the Blues tackling Gungahlin, Yass hosting Tuggeranong, and Woden playing West Belconnen, with Goulburn having the bye.

An extended interview with Yass Coach Adam Kyle is available in this week’s Yass Valley Times, with Part 2 out in next week’s paper.