Recap

Backing up is hard to do

By Chris Gordon

The curse of doubling up strikes again. There may be some teams that you can get away against with making your team play two full games. Tuggeranong isn’t one of them.

The night before the match, numbers for the away game double were slim. Six more players became unavailable match day morning. As a result, most players had to submit a full game of reserve grade before playing firsts.

After expending an awful lot of petrol just minutes earlier in the best performance by a Goulburn men’s side this year, the same group of players backed up against the Vikings for a gutsy and nonetheless fairly competitive match.

Goulburn kept up well for the first half, only trailing by just 12-7 at the break thanks to a Dallas Brown try and Brandon Courts conversion. But in the second half, the fresh Tuggeranong opponents and their full bench were able to seize control. Despite this, the Dirty Reds threw themselves into the match and while there must have been lethargy, they didn’t show it. Heads stayed up and there were no hands on hips against the third placed Vikings side.

But bodies do have limitations and in the final three minutes Tuggeranong was able to run in two quick tries for what was a somewhat misleading 40-7 win.

On the basis of the evenly contested first half, Tuggeranong is a side Goulburn can definitely expect a different outcome and potentially a win against should team numbers improve and several key players return. And even when the wins aren’t coming your way, the willingness to double up and damage your chances of a first grade win speaks volumes of the fortitude and character of the side.

Next weekend the Goulburn men’s teams take on Gungahlin at home while the women’s side is away at Dowsett Field to play ADFA.

Tuggeranong 40 bt Goulburn 7 (Dallas Brown try, Brandon Courts conversion).

Best & Fairest Points:

3 – Connor Minehan
2 – Dallas Brown
1 – Hamish Baird

Players Player:

Connor Minehan

By the clock:

3 mins – Tuggeranong converted try  (0-7)
29 mins – Tuggeranong try (0-12)
34 mins – Dallas Brown try, Brandon Courts conversion (7-12)

42 mins – Tuggeranong converted try (7-19)
24 mins – Tuggeranong converted try (7-26)
32 mins – Tuggeranong converted try (7-33)
35 mins – Tuggeranong converted try (7-40)