Tallon Smith

West Wyalong has secured its second victory of the Group 20 First Grade season after a 24-16 win over a spirited Hay Magpies outfit at the Hay Park Oval on Sunday afternoon.

In a see-sawing contest, it was the Mallee Men who stood up in the second half with tries to Flynn Bryant and Oscar Wood sealing the deal for a second win in the side’s past three games.

Hay coach Zac O’Neill set the tone for a solid defensive performance that was to follow with a big hit early, but it was West Wyalong who opened the scoring with two tries to Logan Pettit and Max Lawson to lead 8-0.

Needing to respond, the Hay side hit back through centre Rex Rokosusu, assisted by a pass from hooker Sulio Loka, before the latter crossed for the second try to level the game at 8-all going into the break.

The Magpies hit the front early in the second half when Rokosusu got his second, before Jaxon Lemon replied for West Wyalong.

Not disheartened by losing the lead, Loka crossed to complete his double and reclaim the lead for Hay, but it was the Mallee Men who ran away with the match from there, with Bryant and Wood sealing the deal for an eight point West Wyalong victory.

After the gutsy win in trying conditions, West Wyalong coach Luke Clarke said that he was extremely happy with his side’s performance in a long road trip further delayed by a power outage and lightning to a 4:10pm kick off.

“It was unreal, it was a really good win, it was really [poor] weather over here,” he said.

“They had a massive crowd, they were tough, they came out firing, and they [put on] some good shots, ran the ball hard and hit us hard, but once we could complete our sets we scored.”

Perhaps the most impressive part of the Mallee Men’s two victories this season has been the ability of reserve grade players to rise to the occasion, with the side overcoming key omissions against both grand finalists from last year in Darlington Point-Coleambally and now Hay to emerge victorious.

Clarke said that amongst a number of changes and reshuffles due to player unavailability, he was happy with the performance of fullback-turned centre Logan Collins, as well as a debutant and tryscorer promoted to the top grade from the seconds.

“We unfortunately still had a couple of front rowers out and I moved our normal fullback Logan Collins into the centres and he did a really good job there, had a really good game, and Jaxon Lemon back to fullback,” he said.

“I debuted one of our reserve grade players who plays hooker on the wing, little Logan Pettit, which was great.

“It was good to see a couple of boys get a chance in first grade and get the win.”

Meanwhile, Magpies first grade manager Ron Cowdrey said that despite the slow start to the year, he believes that Hay has the ability to turn its season around.

“When we start improving our discipline, around fundamental errors and penalties, we will win,” he said.

“There is a really good footy side in that group, and they’ve proven it to themselves with their defensive efforts, the effort you can’t knock, it’s just those crucial penalties at the wrong stages that are costing us.”

Next up for the Magpies is a showdown with the undefeated Griffith Waratah Tigers, a team which coach Brett Goldspink said owes Hay a “bit of payback” after blowing a 20-point lead against them in last year’s preliminary final.

When asked about how the Magpies will approach the match, Cowdrey said that the side will continue to work on the areas that have been letting them down, with full knowledge of the strength they have in their line-up when on song.

“We’ll just keep whacking away, we’ll work on our fundamental errors and penalties,” he said.

“We need to look at ourselves around the discipline on both sides of the footy, defence and attack.

“I’m confident they can give Waratahs [a challenge], the footballers that we’ve got, their defensive resolve yesterday was spot on, but discipline cost us.”

Earlier, the Magpies were defeated 8-0 by the Mallee Men in a 28-minute reserve grade clash affected by a lightning delay.

With the matchday already pushed back due to the power outage, the call was made to shorten the game, with West Wyalong taking the victory through a try to Andrew Preston and two goals to Callan Blackstock despite strong performances from a number of Hay players including Simon Darlow, Jacob Watkins and rising stars Ryan Curtis and Ollie Creighton.

In the League Tag match, it was West Wyalong who got the jump with two tries opening up an early advantage, before the Magpies hit back through a try to Amirah Ismail off a Hannah Stewart kick on the last tackle.

Jessie Carter then reduced the margin to 12-10 at half time when she regathered her own chip kick to score following an earlier break from Wendy Gonevulavula.

However, West Wyalong got the crucial first try after the break to extend their lead to 16-10, and with lightning curtailing the match, the result stood at that scoreline.