Recap

Big second half paves way for bonus-point win for Dirty Twos

By CHRIS GORDON

A second-half turnaround continued the Goulburn Dirty Twos mid-season recovery with a 28-14 win over the Uni-Norths Owls in Canberra on Saturday.

After an enthusiastic but uncohesive first half, both sides tried unsuccessfully to place their stamp on the game and the Dirty Reds second-grade side trailed 14-7 at the break.

Most of that first section featured plays that fell apart and phases that didn’t build from both sides, however Uni-Norths had the better of the scoring.

The Owls were first on the board after just seven minutes but Goulburn struck back a few minutes later when a barraging run by Harry Newby set up an offload to Brad Sparrow who levelled the score with a try.

The arm wrestle between the two sides continued for the remainder of the half, but Uni Norths crossed again three minutes out from half-time.

Things picked up in the second half pretty much where they left off, with both teams struggling to seize the momentum, but a barnstorming break by Eric Brown ten minutes into the second half led to a score-levelling try that sparked a second-half revival.

Now running more confidently with ball in hand, Goulburn sought to take charge. First Hamish McCormack and then Josh Condylios ran in tries against the Owls and with McCormack also converting all four tries, Goulburn earned the 28-14 win.

Scoring four tries also gave Goulburn a bonus point and marked the third straight win (including one forfeit) for the slow-starting side.

Best and fairest players for Goulburn were Harry Newby (3), Seth Smart (2), Alex Parlett (1) and Hamish McCormack (1), with Newby also named Players Player.

Next weekend all Goulburn sides have the long-weekend bye, and then in two weeks the Women’s team and the Under 18s will join the Dirty Twos in action on Poidevin Oval.

Goulburn 28 (Brad Sparrow, Eric Brown, Hamish McCormack, Josh Condylios tries, Hamish McCormack 4 conversions) bt Uni-Norths Owls (Hamish Walker, Sean Mullins tries, Hamish Walker 2 conversions).