Thoroughbreds Round 6

By David Casson

SCONE were at home for round 6 with First Grade and Under 18’s taking on Singleton, while Reserve Grade took on Murrurundi for the second week in a row.

At the end of the day, there were wins to first grade and league tag, a draw in reserve grade and a narrow loss in the Under 18’s.

Ladies League Tag

Ladies League Tag looked likely to be a real battle following the very close win last week at the  Mavericks home ground.

Ally Luck scored the match winning try last week and followed up with the first two tries of the match.

The first was a long range effort while her second finished off a back line movement on her right side.

Maddy Adams return to the team was welcomed with a try with five minutes to go in the first half, giving the thoroughbreds a 14:0 half time lead thanks to a Charmaine Bloomfield conversion.

The second half saw Sofie Casson outpace the opposition after five minutes to take the lead to 20:0, thanks to another Bloomfield conversion.

Murrurundi’s Captain Jacquie Simpson crossed for a try, aided by several mistakes from Scone, however Maddy Adams left no doubt in the result with  a long range effort with only minutes to go.

Final score Scone 24, Murrurundi 6.

Coach Sofie Casson said that “this was a good effort from our girls.”

“We only had one reserve today and I think we showed we have the depth and talent to stand up to tough opposition when we need too,” said Sophie Casson.

Under 16’s

The Under 16’s had plenty of pressure before running on to the paddock.

Injuries from previous weeks resulted in four Under 16’s from Scone Juniors being asked to play – and what an effort from these young men and in fact, all team members.

The result at the end of the day was a narrow 14:16 loss to Singleton who were ahead on the table.

Singleton started the scoring after twelve minutes, however Josh Tickle picked up a try near the posts with twelve to go which tied the scores at 6:6 thanks to a Lachie Walmsley conversion.

A mistake at a tap restart proved costly when Singleton scored again stretching the lead to six, however a Lachlie Walmsley effort with two to go resulted in a 10:12 half time score.

The second half saw little between the teams.

With sixteen to go however, a three player combination, including two of our Under 16’s say Tom Pickersgill cross for Scone wide out.

This resulted in a 14:12 lead, however Singleton crossed again giving them the final advantage of 14:16.

Coach Darryl Rando could not speak highly enough of the efforts an impact of the Under 16’s.

“We were always going to be under pressure with our injury account, however the Under 16’s really stepped up I could not be prouder of the efforts today,” said Darryl Rando.

Reserve Grade

The Reserve Grade was another replay of last week’s games, however Scone found that Murrurundi entered the field with a much more determined attitude and it soon became clear that the relatively easy win last week would not be repeated.

Murrurundi scooted out to a 12:0 break after 15miutes and clearly Scone had a battle on their hands.

Brendan Ellis crossed in a typical barn storming run, however Murrrundi crossed again giving them a 6:18 advantage at half time.

The second half saw tries to both Scone and Murrurundi with Chris Brennan and then Dean Taylor from Murrurundi scoring a very impressive try giving them a 24:12 advantage.

Nick Watson, playing his first game for Scone started the come back followed up by Brenden Ellis scoring his second.

Josh Noble evened the scores to 24:24, converting four tries which remained the final score.

Coach Chris Brennan said that “there was big difference in a week with Murrurundi really showing they will be a force this year.”

“I was happy that we kept to our plan and managed a draw after being down most of the game,” sad Chris Brennan.

First Grade

The first grade match looked in the first 40 minutes that a big score could have been on the cards with a 28:0 score line.

Tries to: Hayden Topliss, Tom Hagan (2), John Johnsen off the bench, and Josh “Freddy” Adams resulted in a 28:0 score line after Hayden Topliss chipped in 4 conversions.

The second half was much different however with Singleton stepping up and, in fact, leading Scone in second half points until the last minute of the game.

Scone tries to Josh Adams for his second and then brother Joe Adams, crossing for a final score of 40:12.

Coach Daniel Ritter was generally happy with the effort.

“We had a number of players backing up today from Representative Games yesterday at Wyong and each one gave their all,” he said.

“We were a little off during the second half, however the final result was pleasing,” Daniel Ritter said.