By Tallon Smith
It was billed as the match of the round in Group 9, and the showdown between top five hopefuls Albury and Young lived up to the hype, with the Cherrypickers emerging with a famous 23-22 win at Greenfield Park on Sunday.
Halfback Robert Roberts was the hero of the day, nailing a clutch field goal to put the Young side ahead in the dying stages and ultimately secure a narrow victory.
Young President Andrew Smith said that after a difficult week trying to fill sides with the Cherrypickers in the midst of an injury crisis, the performance on Sunday lifted the spirits of the entire club.
“It was a great day for the club really,” he said.
“It was a very stressful week trying to fill our reserve grade side as well as our ladies league tag side.
“We just had an unheralded amount of people out, I think we counted about 32 guys that were either unavailable or injured.
“It was a credit to the club and the players that we pulled it all together and we couldn’t be prouder of the performances that they put on, to come away with two wins and two losses.”
“Especially the league tag girls too, they’ve had a fair few points scored on them throughout the year and to go down there and to go down by 10 points was a terrific occasion for them as well.”
With a side sticky-taped together with Under 18s players and reserve graders, even featuring the newly-retired Nayah Freeman answering an SOS from coach Tom Giles, the Cherrypickers were battered and bruised but not broken as they got out of jail with the points in one of Group Nine’s toughest road trips.
“The guys that did play first grade were playing battered and bruised before they even made it into the game,” he said.
“Jake Walker, he was only walking on one leg during the week and wasn’t expecting to play, but he sort of pulled through and did what he could for us.
“Matt Noakes dislocated his elbow and put it back in, came off, strapped it up, and went back out there.
“That’s just how tough the side is at the moment.
“We’ve got boys from 18s coming up and doing a job for us, we’ve got the guys from reserve grade coming up doing a job for us.
“Edward Wood played a full game of Reserve Grade and then came up and did a job in First Grade as well, and three of the 18s boys played.
“I think some played all of the 18s, played minutes in reserve grade and played minutes in first grade too.
“It’s just a credit to all the guys loving to play for the club, feeling proud of them.”
Gallery – Albury Thunder v Young Cherrypickers
In a topsy turvy match, the Thunder struck first before Young five-eighth Matt Murray closed the gap to 6-4 in the 12th minute.
Lachie Hampton then extended Albury’s lead to 12-4, converting his own try, before Tom Giles struck from close range to again reduce the margin to two at the break.
Bobby Roberts dummied and stepped his way over upon the resumption to put Young in the lead for the first time in the match at 16-12, before Albury struck twice to open up a 22-16 advantage late in the game.
The Cherrypickers rallied late however, with a try to centre Kai Parker locking the game up at 22-all before Roberts proved the difference with his boot securing the one-point win.
Smith said that despite being down in the final stages, the side always believed they could get the job done, and that the confidence derived from such a victory will hold them in good stead for the remainder of the season.
“The belief was always there with the guys, they’re never quitters, they’re always a positive bunch of guys,” he said.
“They always thought they could bring it back and they did, which was excellent.
“That could be the tipping point of the season with the week off and then more guys to come back against Coota.
“We’re definitely going to take a lot of confidence out of this game.”
Moving to other results, the Gundagai Tigers became the first team to defeat the Wagga Kangaroos this season with a 22-12 win at Geohex Park on Saturday.
Royce Tout, Derek Hay, Will Herring and Toby Dasey all crossed the line for the Tigers in the four tries to two upset win.
Wagga Brothers celebrated the 30th anniversary of their 1995 triumph at Harris Park due to a fixture clash with the Roos, and although the celebrations off the field were great from all reports, on field Brothers failed to keep up with a Junee side strengthened by their mid-season recruits.
The Diesels ran in twelve tries, three of which went the way of star recruit Chase Bernard, while Dredin Sorensen scored two of his own and booted eight goals for a haul of 24 points.
The third match on Saturday saw Tumut power past a gallant Cootamundra side 28-8 for a crucial home victory at Twickenham.
Bayley Maher starred with three tries for the Blues as they outclassed the Bulldogs to maintain a three point buffer in fourth place and stay within half a game of third-placed Gundagai.
Finally, the Temora Dragons took the points against South City at Harris Park with a 26-10 victory on Sunday afternoon.
On a day where all the attention was focused on the matchup on the Border, the Dragons went about their business in usual fashion, with fullback Hamish Starr bagging a double in the five tries to two win.
This weekend sees a general bye for Group Nine, with the Rivalry Round of fixtures to follow upon the competition’s resumption on the weekend of July 19/20.
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