IT wasn’t so much a game of two halves but a game of one half and two quarters at Scully Park on Sunday, as the two home clubs Wests and Diggers met for the first time this Group 4 season.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Lions roared out of the blocks and were on top early with DJ Smith crossing twice in the first 10 minutes, before Chris Hunt scored his first of a double against his former side for a 16-nil lead before Oxley prop Sam Schiffman crashed over to get the Diggers on the board after 17 minutes.
That would be their only try of the half as Wests kept their foot down, racing in another few tries before the break to head into the sheds up 34-6.
It was almost as if the two sides swapped jerseys in the sheds, with Diggers coming out and putting on five unanswered tries in 20 minutes to level the scores up at 34-all.
Oxley literally held the Lions share of possession as well as their own in the opening stanza of the back half, as Scott Berry scored the first after making a big break down the left edge, then it was a Micah Scarth cut ball to the other corner that put Brad Flanders in.
Wests halfback Luke Cox then had a try disallowed for double movement, before the Diggers struck again, Richard Kennedy finding the stripe, before his centre partner Will Saunders did the same on the other side.
At 28-34 the Diggers were camped on the Lions line when Scarth ducked over from dummy half under the posts to make it 34 a piece, although the hooker would soon be the centre of attention again, as the momentum swung back the other way.
With the Diggers again attacking the line, Scarth believed he had crossed for a double, but when the referee refused the try the young dummy half spat the dummy and unloaded a verbal spray that saw him cop 10 minutes in the bin with 16 minutes to go.
From there the Lions finally got some possession, with a Sam Taylor kick re-gathered by Lewis Dempsey and offloaded to Andrew Taputoro to finish with a dive in the corner to take the lead with 10 to go.
Just before Scarth came back on the Lions crossed again through Luke Cox before Cameron MacDonald latched on to a short kick off and strolled over to put the nail in Diggers coffin with only a few minutes on the clock.
Wests coach Shane Rampling said that it was the second week in a row the side had switched off in the second half after leading into the break in Narrabri last week as well.
“I think we only had about four sets with the ball all half,” Rampling said.
“All our hard work in the first half almost went to waste but we did well to get back in front and win in the end.”
The coach thought Phil Beaton played well in the front row, as did halves Taylor and Cox, as well as Hunt.
For the Diggers, Schiffman was a stand-out up front, while captain coach Tim Coombes put in another 80 minute effort, while Brad Flanders had a strong game on the wing, and Berry in the halves.
The win keeps the Lions on top of the table and undefeated alongside cross town rivals Norths, while the Diggers are still looking for their maiden win.
