Well, as the saying goes, “you don’t always get what you want”. Only ½ out of three for the first Home Games of 2015 last Sunday. A draw to the U20s and losses to both Reggies and A Grade.
Under 20s: 28-28
After three straight losses to start the season the 20s were desperate for some points, but, it didn’t start off well as they were down 6-22 at one stage. But, a second half revival led by Drew Harrison and James Barrie got them back to 22 all and then leading 28-22, before a late try by Burdekin’s version of Usain Bolt scored his fourth try to level it again at 28-28 and that’s how the score remained.
Coach, Graeme Bonato, was relieved to at least salvage 1 point from the match and with the bye next weekend, he’s confident that luck has turned for the boys. Tries to: Drew Harrison, James Barrie, Koby Sharpe, Brad Alloway and Sione Veukiso. 4 conversions to Drew Harrison.
Reggies: 20-28
Early tries to Moses Nelliman-Adams and Tom Schartz got the SAINTS out to a 10 nil lead, but an easy dummy half try to the Burdekin got the opposition on a roll. It wasn’t long before they were back in the UNI red zone and a professional fowl by Moses saw him sent to the bin for 10 minutes and as the hooter sounded, Burdekin scored to make it 10 all at half time. …. (by the way, just thinking out loud … they should change the name from professional fowl to something that sounds less disciplined).
The SAINTS rode out the early part of the second half with a man down, but after 10 minutes, the Burdekin scored to take the lead for the first time 10-16. Then Moses made up for his earlier indiscretion with a try in the corner and the lead was pegged back to 14-16. A series of handling errors and penalties gave Burdekin good field position with which they capitalised to again extend their lead to 14-22 with eight minutes to go.
After cleaning up their ball handling the SAINTS started to gain some ascendancy and strong defense forced a Burdekin error on the half way and from the next set UNI scored and the conversion made it 20-22. But, all to no avail as Burdekin scored within a couple of minutes of full time to it beyond reach for a final score of 20-28.
A Grade: 22-34
The SAINTS never really looked like they were going to win this one, despite leveling at 6 all after 10 minutes. Ill discipline crept in after that and remained for the rest of the half and beyond. 6-22 at half time remained that way until 20 minutes into a boring second half where both teams were guilty of not completing their sets.
Burdekin scored in the corner after another feeble handling error coming out of our 20 metres and they extended their lead to 6-26. Then after a clever grubber by Dan Morgan was beautifully cleaned up by Captain, Jake McManus, the lead was cut to 12-26. The FUGS could then sniff a potential momentum switch as all of a sudden the SAINTS completed two sets in a row, with the inevitable result being another try to Tyrone Hussey and with seven minutes to go it was 18-26. But alas, a dropped ball on the third tackle of the next set gave Burdekin cheap possession and position to score again and make it 18-30.
Two late tries to both teams meant the final score was 22-34, but, majority of FUGS agreed that it wouldn’t hurt to get back to basics. Nevertheless, we remain confident in the coaching staff’s ability to turn things around.
On the bright side though, great to see a good contingent of FUGS enjoying the afternoon on the deck, and of course, the FREE beer. Hope to see you all return again on the Sunday 10th May when we host Norths.
