Round 14 of the Well Hung Glass and Aluminium 1st grade competition was home to some great Rugby, we saw the LARC’s seek their revenge against the Burdekin from their last match up, at Bindal Sports Grounds. At Mike Carney Toyota Park, Brothers and Teachers West added another show down to their great rivalry. The last game of the weekend was held at the Sports Reserve, with North Ward hosting Charters Towers.
Game 1: LARC’s Vs Burdekin
After beating the LARC’s at home in round 2, it was the Burdekin’s turn to play in LARC’s territory. With two seemingly even teams known for tough rugby, both sides were keen to get stuck in. Speading the ball wide after stringing some phases together seemed to work for the Burdekin with Winger Brenten Malpass and outside centre Liam Marshall both scoring for the Burdekin with the help of Leonard Herron’s hard work. But the LARC’s proved far too strong in all aspects of the game scoring tries from all areas of the field. Front Rowers Joshua Allen and Solomon Ricketts both used their size to push through the line and score. The back 3, Orion De Havilland, Jordan Pedro-Geeman and Zac Holliday showed their pace and ability out wide to all pick up a try each. After both having an outstanding games all over the park in attack and defence Flankers Toutai Leger and Ben Lotty both found the line to help take the score line to take the score line to 37-12 at fulltime.
LARC’s 37 (Joshua Allen 1t, Solomon Ricketts 1t, Orion De Havilland 1t, Jordan Pedro-Geeman 1t, Zac Holliday 1t, Toutai Leger 1t, Ben Lotty 1t) Burdekin 12 (Brenten Malpass 1t, Liam Marshall 1t)
Game 2: Teachers West Vs Brothers
At Mike Carney Toyota Park Brothers and Teachers West went head to head with a good crowd in attendance. From the start of the game both sides were eager to get an edge on one another, both trying to make a statement in defence early. After some back and forth running Rugby, Teachers West were first to strike. Quick hands down the short side found winger Nick Poole who tip toed down the sideline to link with fullback Curtis Rayment on the inside to finish the try. Teachers West’s power close to the line proved a problem for Brothers, with second rowers, Hugh Huppatz and Dan Grisdale both scoring pick and drive tries close to the line before half time. After the break Teachers West seemed to ramp up the pace, but with Brothers never back down attitude, the Fish weren’t ready to give in just yet. A short side scrum play from Teachers West had inside centre Josh Fletcher running a good line, allowing him to crash over the line to score. Flanker Martin Brennan finished off an outstanding performance with a great try, catching the Brothers defence sleeping with a quick pick and go up the middle of the field. Solid efforts from the Brothers back rowers Dan Cooper, Raymond Walker-Campbell and Matt Fanning couldn’t stop Teachers West with the final score being 54-0
Teachers West 54 (Harry Willocks 1t, Curtis Rayment 2t, Hugh Huppartz 2t, Nick Poole 2t, Dan Grisdale 1t, Josh Fletcher 1t, Martin Brennan 1t) Brothers 0
Game 3: North Ward Vs Charters Towers
With both sides being in some great form all season round and both in the top 4, the game was set to be the match of the round. Both teams brought the physicality to the game, with both sides wanting to play through the middle of the field. The game was a tough contest with both teams muscling up in defence, forcing errors in attack. However, North Ward’s kicking game allowed them to control the territory and play in the Charters Towers 22m. A pick and go from Zak Ollington saw him crash over the line and grab his second try in 2 games. Not long after that a quick tap from North Ward halfback Sam Bradley, caught the Charters Towers defence sleeping as he squeezed through to score. After more fighting for territory and trying to get the upper hand through tough defence and working through the middle of the field from Charters Towers, the North Ward defence stood strong keeping the score 14-0 going into the break. After Halftime, the game proved to be an arm wrestle. Even with North Ward having the bulk of possession, Charters Towers flankers Joey Cram and Billy Mitchell’s relentless efforts in defence kept North Ward at bay. Late in the half a scrum to North Ward in the Bull’s 22m gave number 8 Dan Withers the chance to break from the scrum and bowl his way over the line to make the score 21-0. But, with Charters Towers never die attitude, a break was made through the middle with Joey Cram in support to score for the Bull’s in the closing seconds of the match, finishing the game 21-7 to North Ward.
North Ward 21 (Dan Withers 1t, Zak Ollington 1t, Sam Bradley 1t) Charters Towers 7 (Joey Cram 1t)