Thoroughbreds Round 12

By David Casson

SCONE won three out of three games on the home ground this weekend.

Scone Park was the venue for last Sunday’s matches which saw Scone take on Aberdeen in first grade and Murrurundi in Reserve Grade and League Tag.

The day promised to have some close encounters and while the score lines suggests there were some relatively easy wins, the games were all very competitive.

Ladies League Tag

The day started with the League Tag ladies and the fact it took the undefeated Scone team about 15 minutes to register a try was a fair reflection of the match.

Try saving tags by both fullbacks were a feature of the game however Brooke Noble managed to cross, capitalising on a penalty near the opposition line.

Sofie Casson repeated the dose with around 10 to go and the first half finished with Zoe Harper on the end of a very well worked backline movement.

Charmaine Bloomfield converted two tries for a 16:0 half time score.

Sofie Casson caught the ball from the restart and then managed to beat many of the opposition to register a try within the first minute.

The conversion by Bloomfield brought the score to 22:0 and that was the end of the points for the game.

Coach Casson gave credit to the opposition saying, “that was a tough one as expected.”

“Murrurundi held us out for long periods of play and we had to work hard to get our points,” she said.

“This was a good test for us and we will not be underestimating them in the future,” Sophie Casson said.

Reserve Grade

The Reserve Grade game was another close one between the two teams who finished with a draw when they last met.

Murrurundi registered first points after five minutes, however Scone bounced back with Alex Brennan crossing in the corner.

Murrurundi crossed again with 10 to go, however Kyle Wilcher showed his skills from close quarters to tie the scores up.

Murrurundi found some space on the edge and crossed in the corner again with only minutes to go, providing them with the lead at half time, 14:10.

It would be nearly 15 minutes into the second half before Scone’s Codie McCarthy pounced on a Jake Bailey grubber near the line to give the Thoroughbreds a 16:14 advantage.

Checka Brennan was providing some damaging defence and then came up with a great break 10 minutes later, which resulted in a try for Isaac Austin.

Josh Noble added his third conversion for the final score of 22:14.

Coach Brennan confirmed how tough the game was, “the last two games have been close and we need to keep on our toes in these matches.”

“We were behind at half time but I am really pleased how the team stepped up, particularly in defence in the second half,” said Mr Brennan.

First Grade

The first grade saw traditional rivals Aberdeen as the opposition.

While Scone were in the lead for most of the match, Aberdeen showed they were no pushovers and kept bouncing back and applying pressure throughout.

Justin Apthorpe was first to cross after about 7 minutes, following sustained pressure.

The conversion was missed and when Aberdeen scampered across for their own converted try at the 30 minute mark, which gave them the lead.

Aberdeen continued the pressure which saw Scone successfully defend several sets on their line.

They made the most of their next visit to the other end with James Carascaalo crossing in the corner.

A tough conversion was missed, however the Thoroughbreds were back in the lead and would stay there for the rest of the game.

Haydon Topliss continued his try scoring, picking up a quick double from backing up breaks from Josh Adams and Daniel Ritter.

Both were converted which gave scone a half time advantage of 20:6.

Aberdeen have shown in recent games that you cannot go to sleep against them, and they were first to cross in the second half following several mistakes by the home team.

The conversion narrowed the gap to 20:12 – however this was increased soon after, thanks to a Tiger error from the kick off and Wes Suckley barging his way over soon after.

At 26:12, Aberdeen came back yet again thanks to a lack of communication from a bomb which saw a drop ball scooped up and placed over the line.

The conversion provided an 8 point gap.

The score stayed at 26:18 for a good 10 minutes before Daniel Ritter followed a Jarrod Wicks kick near the line.

A further try to Haydon Topliss (for his third), once again backing up a great break by Wes Suckley and receiving the final pass from Wicks.

38:18 looked like the final score until Under 18 winger Lachlan Walmsley crossed again just before the bell went.

Walmsley also finished the day with five conversions.

Coach Daniel Ritter was pleased how the team responded after last week’s disappointing loss, “we needed to bounce back this week and overall I was pretty happy with the effort.”

“We know we have to work hard and there are still plenty of things to work on,” said Mr Rutter.

See the full results: Rugby League Results: Round 12.