Strong Win to Scone Over Greta Branxton

By David Casson

The Scone First Grade scored a solid 36 to 4 win over bottom of the table Greta Branxton however with a score of 6 to 0 at half time, supporters were ready for some improvement in the second half.

Fortunately the Thoroughbreds rallied from a first half which saw little between the teams, as suggested by the score.

Scone did have the advantage however thanks to a John Johnson try and Nick Watson conversion, just before the half time siren.

The second half didn’t start well with a mistake off the kick off, handing the ball back to Greta.

The next stanza saw a try saving tackle by fullback Tim Smith and several sets of pressure from the opposition.

To their credit, Scone held on and it was Tim Smith who scored the first of his three second half tries.

Smith was over again virtually in the first set after the restart, while Sam Taylor was in again shortly after, thanks to a good pass from Kyle Cochrane, Watson adding the extras for a 26 to 0 scoreline.

Another dropped ball from the kick off put pressure on the Thoroughbreds, however they were quick to recover and Gary Mckeon capitalised on a good pass to waltz in under the posts for an easy Watson conversion.

To their credit, Greta Branxton kept going and they were next to score after yet another Scone error.

Tim Smith crossed for his third with 10 minutes to go while Greta held on until the last minute when Wes Suckley found Jake Bailey close to the line for a try.

Tim Smith added the extras for the final score of 36 to 4.

Coach Suckley was happy with the second half but said there is still plenty of work to do “we need to start better and reduce our errors. Our defence was good throughout the match but our mistakes put pressure on us at times”

Reserve Grade had a convincing win, leading by 26 to 0 at half time and going on with it to reach a 44 to 0 final score.

Centre Jessie Kilroy had a rare day out, notching up three tries in the first half and following up with another two in the second half. Other players to score were Daniel Edwards,  Jake Collison, Lachlan Duwakin and Jade Smith.

Coach Troy Dunley was very happy with the performance and is keen for the team to maintain momentum, “we had a tough game last week and came up well short of the mark – today’s effort was very good and will build some confidence for us.

Under 18’s took on the competition leaders, Muswellbrook and were very competitive in the first half which saw the Rams ahead by 6 to 4, with Seth Mitchell crossing in the corner with only a couple of minutes to go.

The second half started with great expectations and except for a couple of unfortunate lapses which lead to tries for the opposition, the boys continued with their effort and showed a lot of heart and determination – Coach Jake Bailey was very pleased with the effort against the front runners “our boys really put in today and while there was a 12 point difference at the end, we showed that we cannot be underestimated”

Ladies League Tag recorded their second win of the season with a convincing 30 to 0 final score.

Most of the scoring occurred in the first half with two tries to new player for the Club, Jacquie Simpson and, one to Sam Elphick and the other to Jess Presland.

Sam Elphick converted three of the tries and Loren Heath the other for a 24 to 0 half time lead.

The second half proved a much closer affair with Scone only crossing for one more try – Sam Elphick’s second for the day which she converted.

Captain Loren Heath was very happy with the result and praised her young team – “we have a lot of very young inexperienced players and they are learning more about the game each week.

We worked well in defence today and the added experience of Jaquie Simpson at the back really helped in both defence and attack”

Rugby League: Round 7 Results.