NORTH Tamworth overpowered Oxley Diggers 76-10 at Jack Woolaston Oval yesterday but the Tim Coombes captain-coached side still has a slim chance of making the semis after West Lions beat Narrabri Blue 43-42 in an extra time golden point thriller at Collins Park, Narrabri as Gunnedah Bulldogs swept past Armidale Rams 106-4 at Kitchener Park, Gunnedah.
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The Bulldogs raced in 20 tries in their victory with Travis Smith and Keegan Loughrey both snaring three tries while North Tamworth hooker Brock Wadwell crossed for five tries in the Bears big win against the Diggers but Coombes and his men live to fight another day after the amazing match at Collins Park where west Lions won by a point after Sam Taylor's extra time field goal.
West Lions coach Shane Rampling described it as the "craziest" game he's seen.
Down 42-12 midway through the second half and down to 12 men after Kyle Cochrane was sent off early in the second half for allegedly abusing match officials, the Lions scored 30 unanswered points in an amazing final 20 minutes.
Taylor crossed about a minute from fulltime off a chip over the top and regather, and then kicked the conversion to send the game into extra time, where he was again the hero.
The Blues fired the first shot but it was charged down.
That gave the Lions good field position to start their set.
"I knew we were in trouble. Sam Taylor's got a golden boot," Blues captain-coach Lachlan Cameron said.
Rampling couldn't have been prouder of his side and the courage they showed.
"I'm still in shock as to how we won the game," he said.
"42-12 down with probably 20 minutes to play and with 12 men, it's unbelievable."
He said they just went back to the basics.
"Completing our sets and playing good football the way we can play football," he said.
It was another tough loss to swallow for Cameron.
"We were well in control of the game and let them back into it," he said.
"Once they got a bit of momentum they were very hard to stop."
In Tamworth the North Tamworth Bears continued on their unbeaten way with a 76-10 win after leading 24-6 at halftime against an Oxley Diggers suffering from a number of late pull outs.
It meant fielding the likes of teenagers Dion Reid. He and fellow teenagers Scott Berry, Michael Barry, Sam Collett and Micah Scarth all played well along with the two big props Tim Coombes and Sam Schiffman.
Hooker Brock Wadwell crossed for five tries for the Bears and five-eighth Scott Blanch three while centre Richard Clegg scored two tries and kicked 10 goals for a 28-point haul.
