John Fitzgerald

The Oberon Tigers have joined Manildra, Orange United and Molong as winners in the first week of finals matches in the Woodbridge Cup competition over the weekend.

In the highly anticipated ‘Batthe of the Tigers’ at Oberon, Canowindra’s late-season run into the finals came to an abrupt end at the hands of Minor Premiers Oberon 45-10.

Canowindra had been moving up the ladder over the second half of the season and looked to be a dark horse among the top sides coming into the finals.

In their match-up in the qualifying final Canowindra came into the game with reasonable expectations but Oberon’s 35-point win has seriously interrupted their hopes of a rails run to the grand final, the decider having been set by the Woodbridge committee for their home ground at the end of the preliminary finals games.

Canowindra began the day dominating the home side but an early lapse allowed winger Senio Lefaoseu to score first points just two and a half minutes after the kickoff.

The Oberon defence was powerful in the early stages, but Canowindra, following multiple repeat sets and commanding field position, put too much pressure on their opposites and Jonty Thurgate was across for a converted try in the seventh minute.

The visitors outweighed the locals possibly 20kg a man and they lost little or no mobility and speed because of their size.

They used their big players to advantage, running on the edges of the rucks to good effect to try to wear down the Oberon defence.

But the home side took the brunt of the attack head on and stopped the Canowindra attack in its tracks.

After Thurgate’s try Oberon’s strong defence began to upset Canowindra’s rhythm but the visitors found a chink and managed to score wide out via a try to John Grant.

The next five minutes was the only time they headed Oberon, and Mat Ranse’s try gave his side the lead in the 22nd minute for a 12-10 scoreline, and Oberon’s Tigers then proceeded to dominate scoring for the next 58 minutes, going across for another six tries.

Oberon hooker Caylib Marston scored an opportunistic try alongside the posts in the closing stages of the first half and the sides went to the break at 18-10.

Marston was over again just a minute into the second half for a 24-10 lead to the home side before Ranse scored his second, leaping high to take the ball out of his rivals’ hands five metres out after a fifth-tackle kick.

Four minutes later Will Melchers touched down in the corner, the try not converted, and the game resumed at 34-10.

Despite being heavily outweighed, Oberon’s backs late in the game were finding many gaps in Canowindra’s defensive line and winger Callum Limon scored the last two tries, one following a 90-metre sprint after a Canowindra handling mix-up.

As he did at Eugowra three weeks earlier, prop Ryan Jervis kicked a field goal in the dying seconds of the game.

Jervis took the Canowindra attack head on and was a workhorse the whole game getting through a massive amount of work, and Mat Ranse, playing well above his weight, was among the best for the Oberon side.