Mendooran defeats Trangie, Gulargambone and Walgett share the points in first round of inaugural Community Cup

Bryson Luff

History was made last Saturday when the inaugural Castlereagh Community Cup competition kicked off with games being played at Walgett and Dunedoo.

Designed to provide rugby league for the smaller communities within the vast Castlereagh League area the competition has created much interest with good crowds on hand to take in the first-round action.

The Trangie Magpies travelled to Dunedoo to take on the Mendooran Tigers and made a nervous start to the competition early in the match, and on the back of a severe lack of possession, some of which could be attributed to their handling errors, they were staring at an 18 point deficit on the scoreboard as the Tigers raced in three converted tries within the opening 15 minutes.

However, the black and whites regrouped and stemmed the flow of points from that time on, there being no addition to the scoreboard when the teams trooped off for the half time break.

It is history now that the Magpies went on to “win” the second half 12 points to 10, but they paid the price for their opening fifteen minutes, and they went down to a strong Tigers outfit 28-12.

Whilst they never seemed like they were going to lose the game, the Tigers will be looking to make sure that they put in for the whole match when they travel to Walgett to play the
Dragons in round 2 next Saturday.

The Dragons and the Gulargambone Galahs fought out a tense 14-all draw in their game last Saturday.

The Galahs will be looking forward to having their first home game, when they host Trangie this weekend.

The Castlereagh League season proper is drawing near with the League Tag knockout being played at Cobar on Saturday 28 th March followed by the Youth League and First Grade knockouts taking place at Gulgong on Saturday 11th April.

Planning is also well underway for a Castlereagh League Referee’s camp to be held in Gulgong in conjunction with the knockouts, on Friday 10 and Saturday 11th April.

Former NRL referee Gavin Badger will be in attendance over the two days with the camp
being open to existing referee’s and anyone wanting to become an accredited referee.

For details about the camp, contact Castlereagh League secretary Bryson Luff at 0438 058
563.

Castlereagh Community Cup Round 1 scores

Mendooran Tigers 28 (Stephen Eyles, Rory Madden, James Eyles, Ben Gallagher, Sam Wesley tries, Madden 3, Stephen Eyles goals) defeated Trangie Magpies 12 (Troy Carter, Mick Louie tries, Peter Evans 2 goals) played at Dunedoo.

Walgett Dragons 14 (Malekai Halem 2, Quinton Kennedy tries, Kennedy goal) drew with
Gulargambone Galahs 14 (Sonny Bill Walker, Elvy McEwen, Kadyn Arrowsmith tries, Brank Hammond goal) played at Walgett.