SCONE Thoroughbreds remained unbeaten in the A Plus Contracting Hunter Valley Group 21 first grade competition with a 10-point success over Aberdeen Tigers at Scone Park on Saturday night but the 26-16 success was also a big confidence boost for the vanquished Tigers.
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Aberdeen led the competition leaders 10-6 at halftime and looked like they could end the Thoroughbred run before injury and ill-discipline tore apart their second 40 minutes.
“We were all over them in the first half,” Tiger captain-coach Daniel Hoogerwerf said.
“We played some real good footie but in the second half we went away from the game plan and also gave away a heap of penalties.”
The Tigers also finished the game with three separate sin-binnings, one in the first half and two more costly sin-binnings in the second half, one of whom was Hoogerwerf.
“We were down to just two on the bench too,” he said.
“One player got knocked out in the first half and another had a hamstring.
“That made it hard for us. But we played pretty well that first half.”
The Tigers are also hoping a knee injury suffered by Shane Hasselmann late in the game when he twisted his knee in the process of scoring his side’s final try, isn’t too bad.
Scone captain-coach Daniel Ritter echoed those feelings too.
“Yeah, it didn’t look good, we hope he’s okay,” Ritter said of a game his side “didn’t start real well”.
“We were a bit flat in the first half and didn’t play well.
“We did lead 6-4 before they scored just before half-time.
“It was a pretty scrappy sort of game.
“Both sides had three sin bins, a lot of ill-discipline from each side.
“We came out much better in the second half though.
“It was a good game to win.
“It was our sponsor’s day and also for the John Lawler Shield.
“Aberdeen have also improved heaps.
“They’ll be there at the end of the season if they play like that.
“They do have some good players.”
Marcus Marsh led the Tigers well in the middle with some big runs while Clinton Blenman scored two tries after moving back into the pack following a couple of games in the centres.
Fijian centre Nathan Tuvuga also had some big carries and is fitting in well in Tigerland since moving from Denman.
For the Thoroughbreds, Will Carrigan inspired the side in another dynamic display off the bench.
Wes Suckley was another to stand out while Hayden Topliss, who played five-eighth, scored two tries and showed his class for a backline missing stars Tim Smith and Justin Apthorpe.
Smith, who was at a wedding, Ritter and winger Joel Henderson all came through the game soundly and, with Marsh, will be ready to tackle the Western Rams at Bathurst’s Carrington Park this Saturday in the Country Championship match.
Winner of the Rams and Tigers plays South Coast in the Tier 2 semi-final after South Coast lost to Canberra on the Central Coast on Saturday.
