Thoroughbreds Round 7

By David Casson

BEAUTIFUL weather set the scene for a Saturday afternoon of football between traditional rivals Scone Thoroughbreds and the Aberdeen Tigers.

At the end of play, Scone were victorious in First Grade and Ladies League Tag while Aberdeen took the honours in Reserve Grade.

Ladies League Tag

Ladies League Tag saw teams at the top and bottom of the competition ladder meeting and the score reflected the dominance of the Scone team.

A try to Hayleigh Eveleigh virtually from the kick off set the scene.

Maddy Adams crossed for three quick tries in the next 10 minutes while Sally Gordon, Charmaine Bloomfield and Kaylie Edwards all added 4 pointers before half time.

Bloomfield converted 5 of the tries providing a 38:0 score at ‘oranges’.

The second half started the same way with Adams crossing for her fourth from the kick off and managed another two bringing her tally to six for the day.

Tries were also scored by Zoe Harper, Ally Luck with two and Charmaine Bloomfield for a second.

Bloomfield converted another six for a personal tally of 30 points for the game.

Final score – 78:0.

Coach Sofie Casson was an on the sideline this week and gave credit to all the players.

“There was some really good skills showed today which led to a number of the tries we scored,” said Ms Casson.

“I was very pleased with the defence – we applied a lot of pressure on them from start to finish,” she said.

Reserve Grade

The Reserve Grade promised to be a close one and didn’t disappoint.

There was nothing between the teams for the first 25 minutes. The deadlock was broken when Nick Watson retrieved a kick near the line and scrambled across.

Josh Noble added the extras, however Aberdeen returned the favour from the kick off, when a Scone error saw a Tiger regain the ball and cross the line.

The conversion evened up the score and 6:6 was the half time score.

The Tigers added to their tally with two converted tries in less than 10 minutes into the second half.

After a disagreement which led to both teams having a player in the sin bin, Nick Watson scored his second.

Noble couldn’t add the extras.

The gap was reduced when Tom Vincent barged over following a strong run, with 5 to go, however time ran out for Scone, giving Aberdeen the win by 18:14.

Coach Chris Brennan was disappointed with the result but acknowledged the efforts of both teams.

“There wasn’t much between us today – we are having a lot of team changes from week to week and once we get a bit more settled, I’m sure we will find more consistency,” said Mr Brennan.

First Grade

The First Grade “local derby” was also a competition for the fifth annual Johnny Lawler Memorial Shield.

Scone’s reputation for recording early points in their matches was reinforced when Josh Adams was over after only a couple of minutes.

Not to be outdone, Joe Adams crossed a few minutes later after receiving a good ball from Daniel Ritter.

It seemed like the Adams show, when Josh crossed again after 10.

Aberdeen did respond however with a try in the corner following some pressure on the Scone defence.

Jarrod Wicks saw a gap in the defence near the line and nipped out of dummy half to cross with 15 left on the clock.

Haydon Topliss was having a good day with the boot and converted all four tries for a 24:4 half time score.

Second half commenced in a similar fashion with James Barker crossing in the first five minutes.

Scone maintained their momentum against an under-strength Aberdeen with Ritter crossing after 20 minutes and then Josh Noble getting a couple off the bench.

Topliss was having an easy day with the boot, converting all four second half tries as well for a final score line of 48:4.

Coach Daniel Ritter was very happy to retain the Johnny Lawler Memorial Shield as a result of the win.

“This is an important date on our playing calendar and the boys responded well. It was a solid defensive effort and the attack just flowed from it,” said Mr Ritter.

Best of luck to our Greater Northern Tiger representatives who will be playing Central Coast teams on Saturday at Dubbo.

Sofie Casson and Maddy Adams in the League Tag and Daniel Ritter, Justin Apthorpe, Josh Adams and Tim Watson in the Senior Men’s.

Next weeks games are at Merriwa on Saturday for Reserve Grade and League Tag, while First Grade and Under 18’s travel to Muswellbrook on Sunday.