Tallon Smith

Tullibigeal-Lakes United made a massive statement in the Group 20 premiership race with a hard-fought 26-20 victory over Griffith Waratahs in a back-and-forth game at the Lake Cargelligo Recreation Ground on Sunday afternoon.

With the scores locked at 20-all, a runaway try to Tristin Johnson proved the decisive moment, securing a seventh straight win for the Sharks, and helping them retain third place on the competition ladder with three rounds of the regular season remaining.

TLU co-coach Craig Morriss said he was very pleased with the performance of his side, with strong contributions from players across the field helping keep their opponents tryless in the second half.

“It was just a whole team effort, the guys off the bench came on, they [did] a great job, and we knew we had to [against] a quality team,” he said.

“Waratahs [are] a massive side and they keep coming, they are not leading the comp for no reason.

“We were down a couple of troops, and it was good to see those guys that came off the bench or filled in actually stepped up and covered those positions well.

“I think everybody in our team contributed to that win.”

The Waratah Tigers opened the scoring through Linsay Maiava to take an early 6-0 lead, before the Sharks hit back with two tries to front rower Warren Lloyd and Harry Anderson, with the latter coming off a cross-field kick from halfback Jaden Kelly.

That seemed to spark the Tigers, who returned serve with two four-pointers of their own through Sima Tau and Fili Mahe to reclaim the lead 18-12 heading into the break.

Once play resumed it was Kelly and Anderson who again combined to level the game, before a penalty right in front gifted James Girdler the opportunity to put Waratahs back in front 20-18.

However, a penalty down the other end of the field gifted Kelly and the Sharks two points to again tie the scores, before Johnson raced away off an ensuing short kick off from the Tigers to seal a famous win, with Kelly adding another penalty goal late following a missed conversion to extend the final margin to six points.

Having trailed three times before going on to secure the victory, the Sharks proved to be unfazed in facing multiple deficits against one of the competition’s top sides.

When asked about TLU’s ability to remain in the grind with Waratahs across the 80 minutes, Morriss said the side’s approach to the game and trust within each other has been a big factor in its success this season.

“The guys have been getting it done all year, there’s just something there, they don’t seem to panic too much when they’re behind,” he said.

“They trust each other and go through the processes and luckily the last seven weeks it’s worked out for us.”

Photo Gallery: TLU v Waratahs

Another major reason for the side’s recent run of superb form has been the growth of the halves combination between Kelly and key off-season signing Bobby Jones.

In a post-match interview with Battlers For Bush Footy, Kelly said it has been great to have another quality playmaker in the Sharks’ line-up this year following Jones’ move from West Wyalong.

“We’ve probably lacked another half for the last few years and a lot of the play was coming off myself,” he said.

“Just to have Bobby out there, another quality half to lighten the load, it’s been really good.”

Morriss echoed the sentiments of his halfback, believing that the duo have complemented each other well and provided plenty of direction for the team.

“They’re both quality players, Jado’s got so much experience, and Bob’s just in everything,” he said.

“They were both pretty good players for us, and they are solid cornerstones for the team.”

Following next weekend’s general bye for TLU is a clash with seventh-placed Darlington Point-Coleambally, which still has an outside chance of making finals after West Wyalong’s loss to Griffith Black and Whites on Sunday.

With the Sharks sitting in third place, one point ahead of Leeton, Morriss said the side’s goal for its two remaining games before a final round bye is to maintain its place inside the top three and earn a double chance come finals time.

“A top three finish is what we have our eyes focused on at the moment,” he said.

“It will be tough, we have got some tough games [against Darlington] Point and Yanco, so we will have a hard run, but that’s the focus of the team and the club at the moment.”

On the other side of the ledger, Waratahs coach Brett Goldspink said while his side wasn’t at its best, he was not overly concerned following the Tigers’ second loss of the season.

“It wasn’t our greatest game, that’s for sure, but full credit to Lakes, they deserved the win,” he said.

“They turned up, they got into us, and they got the result.

“There’s no excuses from our end, but as I said it’s not going to define us, this game.

“We’ve just got to make sure that we are better when we meet them again.”

Waratahs’ next assignment is a clash with Yanco-Wamoon on Saturday week.

TULLIBIGEAL LAKES UNITED 26 (Harry Anderson 2, Warren Lloyd, Tristin Johnson tries; Jaden Kelly 5 goals) DEFEATED GRIFFITH WARATAHS 20 (Linsay Maiava, Sima Tau, Fili Mahe tries; James Girdler 4 goals) at Lake Cargelligo Recreation Ground, Sunday July 26.