Tallon Smith
The Temora Dragons have kept their top three chances in their own hands after a hard-fought 12-10 win over the Tumut Blues at a wet and windy Nixon Park on Saturday.
Heading into the match level on 19 points apiece, the Dragons scored three tries to the Blues’ two to set up a showdown with the Young Cherrypickers for a guaranteed place in the top three next weekend.
Temora co-coach Josh McCrone said that the heavy conditions turned the match into a defensive grind, with goalkicking and ball handling being challenging tasks.
“It was a windy, wet day so it didn’t really encourage expensive footy,” he said.
“A pretty gritty game would probably be the best description [of the match], it was a war of attrition.”
After Temora opened the scoring, an error off the kickoff allowed Tumut to hit back.
The sides traded further tries, with Tumut adding a penalty goal to go up 10-8, before winger Drew Robinson took a bomb and crossed to score the matchwinner for the Dragons.
When asked about the efforts of his players on the day, McCrone highlighted two-try hero Robinson, along with a young gun who played well out of position to help get Temora over the line.
“Wingers don’t probably shine, so they’ve got to come up with big moments, and Drew certainly did that for that last try,” McCrone said.
“Kayne Crowe got our players’ player, he’s a 17 year old kid that’s been playing the centres for us, and he had to play back row.
“I think he went really well, he’s a tough kid.
“Obviously in wet conditions, the middles come into it fairly big, [and] Tumut has got a big strong forward pack, so it was a tough battle in there.”
When asked whether or not the Dragons have been paying close attention to the ladder through the final rounds of the season, McCrone said that while they know they are assured of a finals berth, they are simply focused on playing their best football rather than worrying about positions.
“We’re looking at the ladder as far as we made the finals,” he said.
“Albury losing last week we knew we were definitely in the finals, so that’s about as far as we’ve looked at it, but we want to be playing our best footy this time of year, that was our mindset.
“As far as the top five goes, I think any team in the top five, I know Roos are a few points out in front, but I think it’s an open contest.
“Any of those teams sitting there can win the competition.”
Playing what could potentially be their final home game of the year, McCrone said that it was a good feeling to send the supporters that braved the weather home happy.
“It was potentially our last home game for the year, so it was always important to thank the supporters,” he said.
“We get some really good support in Temora, it’s what keeps the club going really, so we pride ourselves on rewarding those people with effort.”
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Gundagai fell agonisingly short of claiming the Ray White Challenge Cup in their 30-12 win over the Cootamundra Bulldogs at Les Boyd Oval.
A hat-trick to Benjamin Hannan and a double to Derek Hay brought the Tigers to within a try of taking the silverware, but ultimately David Buttriss’ men defended the +20.5 line on their home turf.
The Albury Thunder also got the chocolates in their Indigenous Round clash with the South City Bulls at Greenfield Park with a 46-30 win.
Led by doubles to Viliame Cerei and Paul Karaitiana, the Thunder ran in eight tries to five for a strong home win, with the Albury side now looking destined to finish in the agonising position of sixth place on the table.
The Young Cherrypickers continued their rebound in the second half of the season with a 34-18 win over the Junee Diesels at Alfred Oval.
Isaac Matalavea-Booth and Jake Kambos each crossed for doubles for the Cherrypickers as Young secured a six tries to three home victory leading into their massive final round clash with Temora next Saturday.
Finally, in the Wagga derby on Saturday, the Wagga Kangaroos took out the local derby against the Wagga Brothers with a 64-0 thrashing at Geohex Park on Saturday.
The loss capped off a tough day for Brothers’ men’s teams, who lost the reserves game 80-0 and the Under 18s clash 48-8, though they did turn the tables on the Roos in the League Tag match with a 66-0 victory.
Battlers For Bush Footy 