Recap

Dirty Reds Women spring remarkable second half comeback

By PETE OLIVER

It wasn’t pretty. It was far from their best performance of the season. But a tenacious second half showing from the Goulburn Dirty Reds Women has seen them record a 19-17 victory over the Gungahlin Eagles Women in the final round game of the season.

In what was a dress rehearsal against next week’s grand final opponents, the Reds scored two tries in four minutes at the death to storm back into the game, after a lacklustre opening half that saw them concede early tries and a yellow card.

While Goulburn have run away with most matches this season, they were made to work and work hard for this win. It wasn’t until the second half that the Reds clicked and showed outstanding character to claw their way back into the game.

The Reds found themselves in the unusual position of chasing the game from the outset. Gungahlin poured pressure into Goulburn, and the Reds found themselves constantly on the backfoot through poor discipline. The Eagles opened the scoring after dominating territory early and shot out to a 12-0 lead.

Halfback Jordan Brooker found herself having a stint on the naughty chair following repeated infringements from the Reds, and the Eagles took advantage of the one player overlap.

A quality halftime spray from coach Rob Sheekey may have been the tonic the Goulburn girls needed. Sheekey pleaded with the team to cut the attitude creeping into the game, and instead focus on moving the ball into space and use their superior speed out wide.

The second half had Goulburn running down hill and down wind, and it wasn’t long before the Reds managed to apply some pressure of their own. An overlap saw Chloe Waddell score the first of her double, and the Reds were back in the game.

The game started to open up, and Brooker crossed the try line after the Reds managed to secure a rare turn over at the breakdown.

Waddell’s second try and an ice-cool conversion from captain Ash Mewburn secured the win, which will give the team plenty to focus on before this weekend’s grand final.

The win sees the Dirty Reds go unbeaten through their inaugural season in the 10s competition; an incredible effort and a testament to the coaching team and the players.

However, the undefeated season will mean nothing if the Reds can’t pick up their first premiership next weekend.

The competition will be decided when the Reds meet the Eagles at 12.30pm on Saturday 24 August at Crookwell, followed by the Crookwell Dogs against the Taralga Tigers in the Second Division final.

Goulburn Dirty Reds Women 19 (Chloe Waddell 2, Jordan Brooker tries, Ash Mewburn conversion) defeated Gungahlin Eagles Women 17.  

Photos by Pete Oliver

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