Cover Photo: Bec Herring
Tallon Smith
Luke Berkrey’s boot gave Cootamundra the upper hand in the battle for fifth position in Group 9 after the Bulldogs secured a comeback 12-10 victory over Young in a dour local derby at Les Boyd Oval on Sunday.
The Bulldogs captain-coach kicked four goals, three of them penalty goals, to get his side over the line and put it in the box seat to seal its first finals berth in 13 years ahead of matches against fellow contenders Wagga Kangaroos and Southcity in the remaining fortnight.
Berkrey was proud of the way his side fought to achieve the win in the close encounter, after Cootamundra lost its previous five matches decided by 14 points or less.
“It was certainly a good response from us today, obviously with the conditions we always knew it was going to be a bit of a slugfest there and it certainly was that,” he said.
“Full credit to [Young], they really turned up and had a crack.
“We lost a couple of boys, our halfback [Joe Ward] and hooker [James Paterson], so I was really pleased that some guys came on and blokes moved into different positions that haven’t played [those] positions [and] were able to do a job.
“I’m just super proud of the boys, they just keep showing up and [got] one of them tight results going our way, because it feels like over the last couple of months they really haven’t.”
Cherrypickers centre Matt Noakes opened the scoring after weaving his way through the Bulldogs’ defence to score next to the posts, before Boro Navori crossed to extend the visitors’ lead to 10-0.
Berkrey responded with the first of his three penalty goals right on half time, before Bulldogs prop Nikola Sovatabua crashed over to reduce Young’s lead to two.
Two further infringements from the Cherrypickers in the form of a late hit and taking a goal-line dropout before the ball travelled 10 metres gave Berkrey further opportunities at penalty goal, which he nailed, to give Cootamundra its match-winning two-point lead.
The lock and skipper said the choice to go for goal whenever his side received a penalty was a simple one given the conditions.
“We had a fair bit of rain over the whole day and she was pretty muddy, so any points were gold, and I just thought that if we had them opportunities that we’d put the ball over,” he said.
“[I’m] certainly glad we went down that route.”
As for the Bulldogs’ top performer, while Sovatabua had a big impact on the scoresheet with his four-pointer, it was the effort of fellow front rower Tai Vaavale that stood out most to Berkrey.
“The amount of work he got through and the damage he caused on that field was just insane,” he said.
“It was probably the best performance I’ve seen from a player that I’ve played with.”
The result gives Cootamundra’s finals chances a huge boost, putting the side two points clear in fifth after Southcity and Wagga Kangaroos fell to Gundagai and Tumut respectively over the weekend.
Given the Bulldogs face those two sides in their final two games of the year, Cootamundra’s fate now rests solely in its own hands, but Berkrey insists he is “not really looking” at the ladder.
“This whole time, I’ve never worried about the really big picture,” he said.
“Our biggest focus is just to get ourselves right and get ready to get up for Kangaroos.”
On the other hand, the result sees Young fall outside the top three after Junee’s victory over Albury on Saturday.
The Cherrypickers will take on Gundagai and Wagga Kangaroos in two home games to round out the regular season.
The ladder is: Temora (22 points), Gundagai (22), Junee (18), Young (17), Cootamundra (14), Wagga Kangaroos (12), Southcity (12), Albury (10), Tumut (8), Wagga Brothers (5).
COOTAMUNDRA 12 (Nikola Sovatabua try; Luke Berkrey 4 goals) DEFEATED YOUNG 10 (Matt Noakes, Boro Navori tries; Che Hyslop goal) at Les Boyd Oval, Sunday August 9.
