Tallon Smith

A pair of late tries to Parish Bellette and Angus Williams ended Tumut’s six-game winless run to start the Group 9 season with a 16-8 victory over the Albury Thunder at Twickenham Oval on Sunday.

After a tryless opening half, a frantic finish saw three lead changes and four tries in the final 25 minutes of the match as the Blues emerged with two crucial competition points in their fight to remain in finals contention.

Tumut coach Dean Bristow said it was great to see his side finally close out a close game after being forced to split the points twice in the opening month of the competition.

“We have been in a couple of tight tussles like today before, and we have come out with a draw in [two] of them, and a loss on the other occasion, so to finally get the win, hopefully the monkey is off our back and we can start kicking on and chasing that winning feeling,” he said.

Despite a number of opportunities for both sides, only a Nate Broekman penalty goal stood in the way of a scoreless opening half, with Albury taking a slender 2-0 advantage into the break.

The try drought continued well into the second stanza, until Tumut finally broke the defensive stalemate in the 56th minute through Josh Smith, who crossed off a left side shift to give the Blues a 4-2 lead.

However, that proved to be the catalyst for a frenetic final 20 minutes, with Broekman reclaiming an 8-4 lead for the visitors with a try in the corner after shifting from fullback to the wing due to cramp.

Holding onto a four-point lead with seven minutes remaining, Albury gifted Tumut valuable field position after some clever work from Eli Williams drew an offside penalty, and Parish Bellette made the most of the opportunity when he burrowed over to put his side back in front.

Still needing to navigate the final three minutes, Callum Rossiter put up a swirling last tackle kick in the ensuing set which proved too hard to handle for makeshift Thunder fullback Joe Hill, with Angus Williams swooping on the loose ball to score and send the healthy Twickenham crowd into raptures.

Reflecting on a tense final few minutes, Bristow said he was still nervous even after Bellette’s try, only for Williams to put the result beyond doubt and finally bring some joy for the Blues faithful after a tough start to the year.

“That was a good feeling, even when we scored to go in front there with four to go, I was never fully satisfied that we were over the line,” he said.

“My mind was really on getting a good kick, and then [defending], and to take the bounce of the ball and get over and put it beyond doubt, it’s a good feeling.

“It’s what I have grown up [with], you are always chasing them wins, I have known winning a hell of a lot in my career fortunately, so to not have [any] for the first six weeks and to get that first one, I am really happy for the boys.”

In unseasonable conditions for Tumut at this time of the year, the match was played in warm sunshine, with high completions and a lack of stoppages leading to end-to-end football.

Despite the 2-0 half time deficit and plenty of fatigue in the game, Bristow said the Blues believed the field position and possession enjoyed by the Thunder would turn, and when it did, they capitalised.

“The boys were really gassed out there, but it didn’t show in the footy, I think there was only two errors in the whole first half, maybe two penalties, and no stoppages, so it was end to end,” he said.

“We didn’t really win the first 40 with the field position, so we spoke about at half time if we [could] get down Albury’s end a little bit, we liked our chances of getting over, and we did towards the back end of the game.”

Win first step to re-creating “fortress”

After walking away with two losses and a draw from their opening three home games, Sunday’s result gave Tumut’s loyal home fans something to cheer about after a tough start to the year.

The Blues addressed their poor start to the season at Twickenham heading into the clash, as the side looks to re-establish its home ground advantage and bank crucial competition points in their four remaining games at the venue.

“We didn’t get embarrassed, but we did get beat 36-0 here by Gundagai, they were really good that day and didn’t give us a chance, but we spoke about the meaning of playing here in Tumut and if we put good performances in here we can generate a bit of a crowd,” Bristow said.

“It’s our fortress here, I know teams don’t like coming here, it has got a reputation of being cold and a long drive, so we like to play that to our advantage and we have really got up for all our home games this year.”

“The challenge for us now is backing that up on the road.”

Speaking of road trips, next up for the Blues is a clash with South City at Harris Park on Sunday, which will be looking to return to the winners’ circle after a 34-30 loss to Cootamundra.

While it will be a challenge, Bristow said belief and added confidence from their first win will be key to challenging the star-studded Bulls.

“They are going to be tough, they are a good side, especially over there,” he said.

“They have brought in some quality players this year and they are playing committed for 80 minutes, so it’s not going to be easy. 

“I’m just hoping we take a little bit of confidence out of what we can today, and it’s a very tight competition, there is not much between any teams, so you have just got to go there with the belief that you can compete and win and we will do the same next week, we will be hungry and go over there and try and knock them off at their home park.”

Improvement despite result for Albury

As for Albury, the loss leaves the Thunder in second-last place, above only the winless Wagga Brothers and two games outside the top five.

Despite the position the side now finds itself in, Albury captain Nathan Darby focused on the positives in a much-improved performance compared to their last start 64-4 loss at the hands of Temora.

“Massive improvement on the Temora game because that was just horrific at home, especially the points they put on us, and I was really proud of the boys today, especially the effort we put in in the conditions,” he said.

“We had to re-shuffle the team maybe three or four times this week, with a couple of players having babies and illnesses and people away, so it has been a bit of a hard week really.”

Albury’s next task is a clash with Young at Alfred Oval on Saturday.

TUMUT 16 (J. Smith, P. Bellette, A. Williams tries; E. Williams 2 goals) DEFEATED ALBURY 8 (N. Broekman try; N. Broekman, J. Tobok goals)