Thoroughbreds Round 13

By David Casson

THE chilly weather did not affect the football on the paddock when Scone took on Muswellbrook last Sunday.

Four games were played with Scone winning First Grade, Reserve Grade and League Tag.

The Under 18’s came up against the competition front runners and although beaten, showed they will be a force come the semi finals.

Ladies Legaue Tag

Ladies League Tag was first to play and the clash between top of the table Scone and third placed Muswellbrook was expected to be very competitive.

These expectations were confirmed when the two teams traded tries in the first half.

Muswellbrook crossed first making the most of a penalty near the Scone line.

Sally Gordon then showed some great deception when she crossed shortly after.

Ten minutes later, Muswellbrook capitalised on another Scone error on the line to take the lead 12 point to four.

Sofie Casson somehow managed to get the ball down amongst a lot of defence which brought the half time score to 12:8.

A half time ‘chat’ from Coach Casson made the difference and it was a different team that took the field.

Maddy Adams crossed within the first few minutes which locked the scores up at 12:12.

Sofie Casson was next across with a long range effort, scooting down the side line to go in under the posts.

Charmaine Bloomfield added the extras.

Casson again deceived the defence near the line in the last minute which brought the final score to 22:12.

Coach Casson was pleased with the win but not happy with the first half, “we just weren’t committed to the job for the first half.”

“I was much happier once we stepped up and applied the sort of pressure that we needed in the beginning,” said coach Casson.

Under 18’s

The Under 18’s game was again first in the comp and third on the ladder.

The Scone team had to be at their best to match it with the opposition and for large parts of the game were very good.

Bailey Miller was first across when he retrieved a Mitchell Rando precision bomb.

Lachlan Walmsley added the extras for the initial 6:0 lead, however Muswellbrook managed returned the favour with 15 to go with their own converted try.

It was a match that had little between the teams on the score board and on the paddock.

The teams continued the tussle in the second half, however a sin bin with 20 minutes to go for a Scone player proved to be a major factor when Muswellbrook managed to cross for two converted tries.

The young Thorougbreds never gave up but couldn’t manage any further points.

Coach Darryl Rando was pleased with the teams efforts, “that was as tough as we expected but we matched up to them for a lot of the game.”

“A few mistakes made a big difference and we can improve on that come the semi’s,” Darryl Rando said.

Reserve Grade

The Reserve Grade match saw Scone ahead at half time thanks to tries to Charles Mill sneaking over from dummy half, Haydon Cox fielding a Josh Noble bomb and Jake Collison backing up good break by Jared Austin.

Just the one conversion to Josh Noble gave Scone the lead 14:0 lead at oranges.

Muswellbrook came back on fire however and within the first 20 minutes of the second half had taken the lead thanks to three converted tries.

The tide turned back to Scone however when the restart when dead and Scone were back on the attack and capitalised with a Drew Brown try.

Noble converted giving the lead back to the locals 20:18.

Ten minutes later it was Coach Brennan finding the line from dummy half following sustained pressure.

Finally, Jake Collison crossed for his second thanks to a great pass from Noble.

Noble converted this one for the final 30:18 win.

Coach Brennan was generally happy however the start to the second half was a concern, “we just can’t come back to the field after the break and not be switched on.”

“Muswellbrook showed us what can happen if we go to sleep,” he said.

“We showed some character however and ended up with a solid win,” Coach Brennan said.

First Grade

The First Grade match was a top of the table clash.

Muswellbrook had only suffered two losses previously in the season both to Scone.

The Thoroughbreds four regulars out of their team with Captain Coach Daniel Ritter and Tim Watson playing for the Country Bulls in Western Australia and Justin Apthorpe and Josh Adams both out injured.

Added to this, Tom Hagan was forced off the field quite early in the first half.

Wes Suckley was the stand in Captain and led from the front for the entire match.

Suckely scored within five minutes of the game starting.

Lachlan Walmsley was called up to the wing, after playing under 18’s and added the extras.

Muswellbrook were quick to reply however and notched up two good tries following up a kick and the other a long range effort.

One was converted giving them the lead 10:6 however a Kyle Wilcher try at the 20 minute mark evened the teams up at 10:10 and that was the half time score.

It seemed that Scone were gaining the ascendancy and this was confirmed when Isaac Austin crossed after some sustained pressure, after ten minutes.

Jarrod Wicks was next to cross with a dummy half ‘special’.

Young Walmsley came up with a spectacular try leaping high for a Haydon Topliss bomb and then followed up when a favourable bounce from a Gary McKeon kick allowed him to cross the line untouched.

Walmsley converted the three second half tries for a convincing 34:10 result.

Captain for the day was all praise for his team, “we knew we needed to dig deep today with a number of players out.”

“The guys who filled in were terrific and our regulars all stepped up to give us a very pleasing win,” Wes Suckely said.