Recap

Photos courtesy Peter Oliver Imagery

Dirty Twos take it down to the wire

By Chris Gordon

The Goulburn Dirty Reds second grade side came within minutes of toppling third placed Wests Lions at Jamison Oval in one of their best performances of the year.

A penalty try to Goulburn minutes before full time closed the gap to just 26-24 but time ran out on yet another strong finishing Goulburn finishes.

The Reds were against a mountainous challenge from the outset against much bigger opponents and a much bigger bench. Wests had 12 players on their sideline and, with scrums uncontested, made clever (and legal) use of the front rower replacement rule, regularly cycling through their reserves. And credit to Wests for being able to attract and retain good numbers.

Again, as in previous games, Goulburn’s opponents applied early scoreboard pressure and were up by three tries to one at the break.

But Wests, despite their numerical and bulkier advantage, were not necessarily fitness freaks and were frequently gassed against a determined Goulburn onslaught.

Goulburn’s game plan stood up throughout the game with strong exits, good decisions and sustained efforts and the Reds registered three tries to one in the second section.

While not a perfect game, there was room to improve on unsympathetic passes that were hard to catch, the tactics, the intent and the effort were as good as any game they’ve played this season. Again, getting numbers together at the last minute didn’t help but it did allow the side to experience Minehan Magic (trademark Corbie Yeo), with brothers Connor, Lachlan and Sam all playing together.

Despite the close loss, that still earned the side two bonus point (one for a loss by less than seven, one for scoring 4 tries) Goulburn still has a mathematical path to the semis but will have to win both remaining matches and hope for a few other results to fall their way.

The next step on that path starts at Queanbeyan next weekend.

West 26 bt Goulburn 24 (Vereniki Naureure, Brandon Courts, Michael Cooke tries; penalty try; Pat Craig 1 conversion).

Best & Fairest points:

3 – Cooper Camden-Smith
2 – Connor Minehan
1 – Matt Thompson

Players’ Player:

Sam Minehan

By the clock:

2 mins – Wests try (0-5)
22 mins – Wests try (0-12)
26 mins – Vereniki Naureure try (5-12)
32 mins – Wests try (5-19)

36 mins – Brandon Courts, Pat Craig (12-19)
41 mins – Wests conv try (12-26)
50 mins – Michael Cooke try (17-26)
69 mins – Goulburn penalty try (24-26)