Castlereagh Column Finals Edition: Jets lag against Cobar, Terriers knock Unicorns out

Cover Photo: The Cobar Weekly

By Bryson Luff

At half time in the First Grade Qualifying Semi Final being played at Cobar’s Tom Knight Oval, the Narromine Jets were staring at a scoreboard that read 30 points to nil against them after what could be best described as a horror start to the game for the visitors.

Whilst nothing ought to be taken away from Cobar’s dominant display in the opening forty minutes it should be acknowledged that the Jets contributed to the Roosters domination on the scoreboard by way of some wayward passing and kicking that resulted in three long range tries, all converted, being scored by the red, white and blues.

In terms of scoreboard activity, the second half slowed down somewhat, with an additional 12 points being scored by the home side, including a fourth try to Cobar’s highly talented young gun Reece Josephson, whilst the Jets managed to break their duck after three quarters of the match had elapsed with a converted try for a final score of 42-6.

If the sad state of the final scoreboard was not enough to exasperate the Jet’s faithful, the ill- discipline shown by a couple of their players in the last ten minutes of the match, resulting in a sin binning and a send off would have made them nervous about their prospects of progressing any further in the 2024 Christie and Hood Castlereagh League finals series.

They live to fight another day, that day being next Sunday when they will be hosting the

Gulgong Terriers in the do or die minor semi-final at Cale Oval.

The Terriers just scraped home against a courageous Coonabarabran Unicorns outfit in the Elimination Semi Final played at Gulgong on Sunday.

The game exploded in the 25th minute when a melee erupted resulting in two Coonabarabran players and one Gulgong player being sent off.

It could be argued that the extraction of those three players from the field contributed to what was a free-flowing game for the remaining 55 minutes, with Coonabarabran in particular opting to move the ball wide on many an occasion.

In fact, it ended up being a thriller, with the scores being locked up on two occasions and the lead changing four times before the Terriers managed to just get home 34-30.

Over the two days the other grades also produced some great games, not the least of which was the youth league game played at Cobar between Narromine and Binnaway where extra time was required to get a winner after the two sides were 8-all at the end of regulation time.

The Bombshells went on to claim a tense 14 to 8 win in extra time to see them advance to the Minor Semi Final.

Another stand out game was the league tag fixture between Gulgong and Baradine at Gulgong on Sunday, with the Terriers holding off a late charge from the Magpies to win 16 to 10.

Finals action continues this weekend with the unbeaten Coolah Kangaroos hosting the Cobar Roosters in the major semi final at Coolah on Saturday.

After their dominant display against the Jets last Saturday the Roosters might fancy their prospects of being the first team to ground the ‘Roos in what should be a hard-fought match in front of a bumper crowd.

The Minor Semi Finals will be played at Narromine on Sunday with the first-grade fixture seeing the Jets up against the Gulgong Terriers.

This will be a real test for both sides and whilst Gulgong will go into the match as last start winners, they would be well aware that they only just gained entry into the game after they were fully stretched by a Coonabarabran outfit that played almost three quarters of the match with one less player than Terriers.

Meanwhile the Narromine side will have to regroup after their dismal showing at Cobar last Saturday, a performance that they would be pleased to put behind them.

The Gulgong club is the only club that still has all four grades playing in the semis, with their Youth League side being up against Cobar at Coolah on Saturday, whilst on Sunday at Narromine their Reserve Grade will be playing the Baradine Magpies and their League Tag team taking on the Coolah Flyers.

Apart from the Youth League game the lower grade action at Coolah on Saturday will see Binnaway and Gilgandra play in the Reserve Grade and in league tag it will be the undefeated Narromine Jets and the Dunedoo Swannettes taking the field in what will be a replay of the epic 2023 grand final.

Christie and Hood Castlereagh League Scoreboard

Qualifying Semi Finals – at Cobar Saturday 10 August

Reserve Grade

Gilgandra Panthers 38 (Jay Towney 3, Kaleb Sutherland 2, Kyzah Louie, Tim Altmann tries, Alex Sutherland 4, Shane Ritchie goals) defeated Gulgong Terriers 12 (Tyron Reynolds 2 tries, Jai Cain 2 goals).

Youth League

Binnaway Bombshells 14 (Sonny Bill Walker, Toby Kelly, Will Duce tries, Nash Walker goal) defeated Narromine 8 Jets (Shannon Rule, Ryan McCarney tries) in extra time.

League Tag

Dunedoo Swannettes 34 (Chelsea Gallagher 3, Alexis Gallagher 2, Shelley Cox tries, Chelsea Gallagher 2, Tiffany Murphy 2 goals) defeated Coolah Flyers 10 (Brooklyn Blackadder, Molly Burgess tries, Lisa Jones goal)

First Grade

Cobar Roosters 42 (Reece Josephson 4, Fraser Talu 2, Nathan McAndrew, Loma Atuau tries, Thomas Plater 5 goals) defeated Narromine Jest 6 (Isayah Kelly try, Doug Potter goal).