Tallon Smith
The Temora Dragons live to fight another day in the Group 9 finals series after securing their passage through to week two with a 28-16 win over the Tumut Blues in the Elimination Final at Nixon Park on Saturday.
Looking to keep the coaching career of hometown hero Josh McCrone alive for one more week, the Dragons ran in five tries to three to eliminate the Blues after their short-lived return to the finals.
Temora co-coach McCrone said that it was a hard-fought victory for his side, who are battling injury as many of the top five sides are at this stage of the season.
“It was good, it was gritty, we were down a couple of troops from last week, had a couple of injuries, so it was really good to dig in and get a good win,” he said.
Despite being around the five for many seasons now, the Dragons have often lost to some of the more experienced sides, most notably falling a game short of the Grand Final last season.
However, McCrone said that with the lessons of previous defeats in the memory bank, Temora made sure they went to another level in order to overcome a strong Blues outfit.
“Tumut has had a fair bit of success in finals football,” he said.
“Over the last couple of years the better teams have really stepped up in finals, teams that have made it to the end, so we were pretty keen to do the same thing and step up.
“We knew Tumut were going to be a lot harder than they were two weeks ago, and they were, they played really well.
“The effort was outstanding, but like I said that intensity has to lift for finals footy, and it did yesterday, but it’s going to have to go to another step next week when we play Young.”
When asked who were the key players in his side’s victory, McCrone said that while the effort was there across the board, two players really stood out after their performances.
“As the [five different] try [scorers] suggested, it was a team effort,” he said.
“Nick Bett, his first game starting for use this year on the wing, he stepped up and played really well.
“Cody Lynch had a crook back all week, and only just got across the line to play, came off the bench an played, did a really good job for us at hooker for us too, so those two boys were pretty good.”
Meanwhile, the Gundagai Tigers will face the Wagga Kangaroos for a spot in the Group 9 Grand Final next week after defeating defending premiers Young Cherrypickers 42-18 in the Qualifying Final at Anzac Park on Sunday.
The Tigers ran in a stunning nine tries to three in a one-way encounter, with poor goalkicking the only thing preventing them from reaching the half century in a dominant display.
Last year’s Reserve Grade hero Toby Dasey and powerhouse centre Gabriel Gul crossed for two tries each in the win, joined by five other try scorers in a team display that would have impressed coach Aaron Gorrell.
On the other hand, the Cherrypickers will exercise their double-chance when they host the Dragons in a rematch of their thrilling final round game in a sudden death Minor Semi Final showdown at Alfred Oval on Saturday.
