FARRER had a double dose of football success yesterday with the Buckley Shield league team qualifying for the final and the Wiburd Shield rugby side cruising into the semis.
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At Young, the under 14s Buckley Shield side overcame a poor start to the game to run out 44-12 winners against Young High School.
At John Simpson Oval, the under 16s Wiburd Shield team ran in 11 tries in an ominous display in the quarter-finals of the country schools competition against Port Macquarie.
Fullback Peter Taylor and winger Luke Palmer scored three tries apiece in the 75-0 demolition, with Taylor’s eight conversions giving him 31 points for the match.
A number of the players backed up from the Farrer 16s’ Group 4 rugby league grand final win on Sunday, coach John Bourke said.
“We’ve still got a bit to do but they are a good bunch of players and a good bunch of kids,” Bourke said yesterday.
“The best of Central Coast and Newcastle should be pretty good. Any side from now on is going to have good players but it is whether they are a good team.”
Bourke praised locks Brendan Hunt, Ben Thomas and Doug Biffin for their efforts.
“They recycled ball all day today and just didn’t give the other team a chance,” he said.
The semi-final will probably be played next week at John Simpson Oval.
In the other match yesterday, the Buckley Shield team were behind early after a mistake on their own line but scored two tries in two sets of six to take control of the match.
Then the green and golds’ superior fitness won out as they ran away with the match, coach Matt Stewart said.
“The boys travel extremely well. For a bunch of 14-year-olds they are very mature and switch on when they have to,” Stewart said.
“It was a long way to come but it is going to make the trip home a bit easier.”
Lock Nick Miller was among Farrer’s best while Marty Lewis’s tackling kept the bigger Young side on the back foot for most of the match.
“There were no real flashes of individual brilliance, it was just a great team effort,” Stewart said.
“Our fitness won us the game. We just had them turned around and on the back foot all day.”
The final will be played at Marathon Stadium on September 22 or 23 against either Westfields or Hunter sports high schools.
Hunter is expected to win that semi-final clash after winning the 13 years State carnival last year.
“They’ll both be big, well drilled sides but if we defend like we did today and in the past two or three games, we’re in with a chance,” Stewart said.
WIBURD SHIELD: FARRER 75 (Peter Taylor 3 Luke Palmer 3, Scott McKenzie 2, Brendan Hunt, Cameron Mitchell, Tom Learoyd tries. Taylor 8, Nathan Handley, Daniel Bruce goals) d PORT MACQUARIE HIGH 0 at John Simpson Oval.
