AFTER reaching its maiden Central North semi-final last season, Scone will contest its maiden grand final after winning through to the Tier 2 decider with a commanding win over minor premiers Walcha at Walcha yesterday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Brumbies were far too good for a woeful Rams, coming away with a 25-13 win after leading 15-nil at half-time.
The home side came out well and had a lot of the early attack but the Brumbies just absorbed it and hit back with interest.
“We had to fight hard to get on top, but once we were there we didn’t let them back in,” Brumbies co-coach Duncan Pinfold said.
The Rams didn’t go away and managed to muster a few points in the second half but each time the Brumbies replied.
“When they did get points we didn’t fold,” Pinfold said.
They have been prone to doing that.
The home side scored first points in the second half through the boot of captain Simon Newton.
But the Brumbies hit back, with centre William Wardlaw capitalising on some strong work from the forwards to get in behind the Rams defence.
Newton then stepped his way around the Brumbies defence from about 10 out after a good lineout drive from the Rams had the Brumbies on the back foot.
It was a rare opportunity that they actually finished but, summing up their day, they knocked on the kick-off and were penalised for being offside.
Graham Flanagan slotted the three points to push the Brumbies back out to 15 and, if they hadn’t already, seal the win.
They were superior to the Rams across the park. Their attack had a lot more rhythm and their defence forced a lot of mistakes from the Rams.
And there were a lot. They would have struggled to get past three phases.
They just kept turning the ball over either in contact, a loose pass or just knocking it on.
“We were our own worst enemies,” coach Andrew Crawford said.
They even had a man advantage for 10 minutes in the second half after Brumbies winger Baden Chaffey was binned for a lifting tackle, but couldn’t take advantage of it.
Pinfold rated yesterday as up there with their best performances of the season.
The grand final in two weeks will be their first since 2005 when they were playing in the Newcastle competition.