Werris Creek fought back from an eight-point halftime deficit to claim a lucky four-point win over Gunnedah in their Round 10 Whitehaven Coal Group 4 First Grade premiership match at Werris Creek’s David Taylor Park.
The Magpies trailed 14-6 at halftime after the Bulldogs had earned their lead with some powerful play up front but the home side replied with some outstanding football of their own in the second half.
The Magpies scored three tries in 16 minutes in the second half, the fist at the six minute mark when skipper Cody Tickle dived over, followed by two tries from Nash Porter in the 8th and 22nd minutes.
Ahead 24-14 the Magpies were stunned when Emori Waqavulagi scored his second try of the day to give the Bulldogs a hope at 24-20 before Harlee Millgate’s 34th minute try snuck the Magpies out to a 10-point lead again.
However, the Bulldogs made it interesting in the final minutes when the brilliant Waqavulagi grabbed his hat-trick of tries to reduce the deficit to four points.
Werris Creek hung on for a win in what Magpie coach Dave Stewart reckoned was a “great game of football”.
“Yeah, right from the start to the finish,” Dave Stewart said of the see-sawing match.
He had told his side to “enjoy their footie”.
“We didn’t panic. At halftime I could have ranted and raved but I just told them it was up to themselves and told them to enjoy themselves. We just want them to enjoy their football.”
The Magpies did that in the second half and Stewart said “the smile on their faces” told everything.
He also thought Ronin Hadden was great for the Maggies after returning from a broken hand.
Hadden said his hand was the only part of his body that “wasn’t sore” after his impressive display.
Moree Boars remained their unbeaten record when they overcame Dungowan 38-24 in a workman-like Whitehaven Coal Group 4 first grade performance at Moree’s Boughton Oval on Saturday.
The 14-point win continued the Boars terrific run while making Dungowan’s hopes of making the Group 4 semi-finals so much tougher.
Moree captain-coach Michael Watton was happy with the win after not having played since June 1.
“We played like we had had three weeks off,” Michael Watton told G4 Media.
“But we can take a bit out of it.”
He wasn’t “overly impressed” with his side’s performance.
“We were a bit out of sync,” he said while also unable to find any standouts.
“Lachy (Lachlan McGrady) played pretty well (at fullback),” he said of a fleet-footed back who scored two tries.
“He was his electric and normal self,” Watton said.
“Cocko (Brenton Cochrane) was good and gave us spark when we needed it. Brent McDonald was solid too. It was just a good restart to our season.
“And Dungowan came to play too. We’ve got to move on to next week now. Have a big game at home to North Tamworth.”
Dungowan’s coach Jack Cameron thought his side were right in it.
“Only trailed by 10 points with 10 or 15 to go,” he said.
“I thought we played unreal. Just can’t give them any little chance because they’ll take it.”
Boggabri’s 16-point, seven try to four, win over reigning premiers North Tamworth at Boggabri on Sunday has the Kangaroos within a point of second spot on the Whitehaven Coal Group 4 First Grade Premiership Table.
The Shane Rampling-coached Roos won 40-24 at Jubilee Oval on Sunday and now places them equal fourth with Werris Creek but more importantly, just a point behind equal second-placed Kootingal and North Tamworth with 14 points.
The Roos roared up the table with their brutal belting of the Bears, transforming a 24-12 halftime lead into the 40-24 success.
“We played pretty well,” a delighted Shane Rampling told G4 Media.
“Still made some errors but they played for each other. Got a real good start. Got out of the blocks quick.”
North Tamworth coach Paul Boyce said his side had no answer to the Roos who he thought “they wanted to win more”.
“They were very physical but it didn’t help we lost our 1, 6, 9 and 11 in the first half to injury and had no bench in the second half.
“I thought we were still in with a chance but a few things didn’t go our way.”
Boyce said Boggabri “were the better side”.
“We didn’t up with the right attitude in the first half,” he said of a poor start.
“They kicked off and we let the ball roll out (into touch).”
He now hopes the injuries to key players such as fullback Lynken Dickson (knee) are not serious with a trip to Moree this Saturday looming.
For Boggabri coach Shane Rampling the victory was great in respect of the G4 table but “especially as it was our sponsors day”.
“Our reserve grade gave us a great start too (24-22 win) and got the home crowd geed up,” he said of the second grade success.
“It was a result we badly needed. Needed to get a get a game put together. We got away what we were doing right in the first half a little bit in the second half but finished strong.
“I was just really happy with the effort but we have a lot of work still to do.”
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