DUNGOWAN remain undefeated and clear top of the Second Division Shield after a convincing win over premiers and rivals Kootingal. Werris Creek pulled away in the final quarter of a very tight affair over Boggabri at home to record two wins on the trot as Wee Waa took their first scalp with a close win over Bundarra.
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At Werris Creek an arm wrestle of a match saw the lead change hands four times in the first half, with Boggabri heading into the sheds up 14-12, before an intercept and full field try from Magpies fullback Marty Shaw changed the game in the back half with the home side running in two more tries in the space of seven minutes to win 34-16.
Both sides were completing sets well in the opening half, with a good battle in the middle between the two big packs, despite the visitors travelling a bit shorter than they would have liked.
Thomas Brown was at his devastating best for Creek up front, laying the platform early, alongside Zac Leonard and Jesse Porter, with the visitors showing some great line defence to hold them out at times, before running out of gas late as the Magpies backline kicked into gear and found the line.
Meanwhile in the Plate, round three had the same match-ups as round one, although some different results.
Walcha again thumped Bendemeer to remain the clear top side of the lower division, while Manilla did better than their first round draw with Bingara, just pipping the Bullets by one try 48-42 in a high scoring affair, while Quirindi turned the tables on Barraba to beat them 46-22 following a first round loss to the Bulldogs.
Despite the loss to the Chris Vidler-inspired Grasshoppers, Bulldogs president Jacob Hawley said the club took a massive step forward in attitude for the season, after struggling with ill-discipline in the opening rounds.
“We dropped off too many tackles and let some soft tries in,” Hawley said.
“But our attitude and discipline was a lot better.”
“There was no silly penalties or backchat which is a big step forward for us this season.”
Quirindi captain coach Vidler led the charge up front for Quirindi, although it was Chris Leslie that came away with a personal tally of 22 points from two tries and seven from eight conversion attempts.
Quirindi’s Brendan Austin played well to take the ref’s points in a losing side, the big forward stepping into the five-eighth’s role for the match and impressing with two tries of his own and a handy kicking game.
“The team is still coming together and we have struggled to get everyone to training at the same time with work commitments,” Hawley said.
“We are showing good improvement and are looking forward to the local derby with Manilla next week.”
“We still haven’t played Manilla, Bingara or Bendemeer yet so it is hard to tell where we are at.”
“We just have to keep
building.”
