Cover Photo: Krak’d Lens
Tallon Smith
The Forbes Magpies made a major statement ahead of their final round clash with Nyngan on Sunday after soundly beating Peter McDonald Premiership competition leaders Mudgee Dragons 38-14 at Spooner Oval last Sunday.
Fullback Mitchell Andrews crossed for a hat-trick and centre Farren Lamb scored a double as the Magpies overturned a 12-10 half time deficit to hand the Dragons their first loss of the season.
Forbes coach Cameron Greenhalgh said he was happy with the performance, as his side made the most of the opportunity to claim its biggest scalp of the season so far.
“The lead up to the game, we were looking forward to it for a little while,” he said.
“[We] had Wellington the week before, so that was a bit of a no-contest, but we were focusing on that game for a couple of weeks.
“We were behind at half time, and we re-evaluated a bit at half time and we wanted a good start in the second half.
“We got that and came out and really dominated there for a period and got on top and kept going with it, so it was a really pleasing effort against a quality team like Mudgee.”
The Magpies will be hunting a fifth-straight victory this weekend in their final regular season match at home against the ninth-placed Nyngan Tigers, with a top two berth possible, but unlikely given the fact that the two sides above them will face teams in the lower half of the competition ladder.
Heading into the clash, Greenhalgh said the focus is on fine-tuning preparations before a likely showdown with Dubbo CYMS the following week in a rematch of last year’s grand final to begin the playoffs, rather than ladder position.
“We’re just looking to build on that win that we had against Mudgee, and then rolling into a quality side like Dubbo CYMS the following week at Dubbo, so we’ll just get this one out of the way and our attention will turn straight to semis,” he said.
“We have had a plan for the last month or so about where we thought we were going to finish, we only had to worry about ourselves.”
In other games around the Peter McDonald Premiership over the weekend, Dubbo CYMS escaped with a narrow 26-24 victory over Orange CYMS, and Dubbo Macquarie cemented its place in the top four with a 30-12 win over Orange Hawks, while Parkes defeated Bathurst Panthers 36-24, Bathurst St Pats beat Nyngan 26-18, and Lihgow outclassed a spirited Wellington side 60-0.
Other games this weekend will see Dubbo CYMS take on Wellington, Mudgee host Bathurst Panthers, Bathurst St Pats welcome Orange Hawks, Macquarie face Parkes, and Lithgow travel to Orange CYMS.
The competition ladder is: Mudgee (29 points), Dubbo CYMS (28), Forbes (27), Dubbo Macquarie (23), Orange Hawks (19), Orange CYMS (18), Bathurst St Pats (17), Bathurst Panthers (15), Nyngan (12), Parkes (12), Lithgow (12), Wellington (4).
Woodbridge Cup: Tigers on top
John Fitzgerald
Oberon and Manildra stormed into the Woodbridge Cup semi-finals on the back of their performances in the final round of premiership matches.
The two clubs most regarded as premiership favourites had emphatic wins, Oberon defeating Grenfell 60-16 and Manildra winning 38-6 over Orange United.
With Oberon’s win, the club crossed the line for a second year as minor premiers despite finishing level with Manildra on 21 points, with a differential of +338 compared to the Rhinos’ +210.
The top six clubs had wins but both leading clubs finished the regular season 7 points ahead of the pack.
Trundle’s 72-12 win maintains their position tucked in 1 point behind the leaders indicating a threat going into the finals.
The next nearest team is Cargo on 16 points after their 62-24 defeat of Eugowra, followed by Blayney and Cowra equal in sixth spot on 14 points.
Blayney won their final-round game over Canowindra 42-16. Cowra defeated Peak Hill in the final game of the round.
Peak Hill and Orange make up the top eight clubs.
