Recap

Persistence pays off for Dirty Twos

By Chris Gordon

A seven-try haul and a dominant second half saw the Goulburn Dirty Twos into the winners circle with a bonus point 43-12 win against the Gungahlin Eagles.

The Goulburn reserve grade side, supplemented by players returning from injuries and other commitments and with assistance from a few semi-retirees, finally took the field with ample numbers both on the field and on the bench and the difference of having fresh legs was evident.

Despite being deprived of possession and field position in the first half and forced to be almost entirely defensive, Goulburn withstood an Eagles barrage and submitted a committed tackling display. Even with very little possession, however, the Dirty Twos were ahead on the scoreboard by 12-5 at the break thanks to Jack White and Josh Hannan tries and a Ben Todkill conversion.

Gungahlin evened up five minutes into the second stanza, but from then it was all Goulburn. Five tries followed – two to Todkill, a second to Jack White and one each to Tynan Rae and Lachy Condylios (in his grade debut) with Patrick Craig converting three of those.

Faced with the same player shortage Goulburn has experienced most of this year, Gungahlin to their credit they never threw in the towel, employing a strong kick and chase game, early field dominance and gutsy defence but the Reds were deserved winners with their work at training and in previous games coming together on the day.

Goulburn showed where it’s week-to-week trajectory has been heading with a competent and enthusiastic victory – Goulburn’s first ever win against Gungahlin in this grade since the merger of the  ACT 4th grade and Monaro second grade competition in 2016. The bonus point win (for scoring 4 or more tries) has also lifted them off the bottom rung of the competition ladder and set the tone for the first grade match to follow.

Next weekend, all adult grades have the bye for the long weekend and the following weekend they will be reunited on Poidevin Oval to take on Queanbeyan in the men’s game and with a rematch against ADFA for the women.

Goulburn 43 (Ben Todkill 2, Jack White 2, Tynan Rae, Lachy Condylios, Josh Hannan tries; Patrick Craig 3, Ben Todkill conversions) bt Gungahlin 12.

Best & Fairest Points:

3 – Justin Thompson
2 – Jack White
1 – Aaren Niko
1 – Hamish Baird

Players Player:

Jack White

By the Clock:

5 mins – Gungahlin try (0-5)
23 mins – Jack White try, Ben Todkill conv. (7-5)
33 mins – Josh Hannan try (12-5)

40 mins – Gungahlin conv. try (12-12)
43 mins – Jack White, Patrick Craig conv. (19-12)
49 mins – Lachy Condylios try (24-12)
51 mins – Tynan Rae try (29-12)
58 mins – Todkill try, Craig conv. (36-12)
61 mins – Todkill try, Craig conv. (43-12)