Gunnedah have positioned themselves as the biggest threat to dethroning North Tamworth as premiers after beating Narrabri for the second time this year with a 50-22 away triumph on Sunday.
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Adding to the gravitas of the victory was the fact that Narrabri had severely harassed Gunnedah early in the match
Bulldogs coach Sean Hayne said his side came back from a 22-0 deficit midway through the first half.
In doing do, Hayne admitted that Gunnedah had gained a crucial edge over Narrabri. “Once we scored a few tries, they started to believe in themselves,” he said.
“Once they settled down, they played some good footy. We were pretty good.
“It [the win] was very important. Whoever wins today, it gives them a little advantage in the final round for the top two spots.”
Hayne said the Blues were able to gain the early ascendancy by controlling the ruck and chewing up metres through quick play-the-balls.
But he said Gunnedah blunted Narrabri’s dominance with two tries before halftime that made it 22-12 at the break. Those tries were scored by centre Aaron Donnelly and hooker Dylan Porter.
“We came out with the right attitude in the second half and played some good footy,” he said. “We run with a bit more direction and a bit more determination.”
Hayne praised the performance of youngsters Bailey Lennox and Porter as well as No.1 Dylan Lake.
He said Lennox was “outstanding” playing right and left edge second-row.
The win meant the Bulldogs regained the John “Dallas” Donnelly Cup.