Round 11 of the Oilsplus South West Rugby Competition saw the Young Yabbies travelling out to Conodobolin to take on the Condobolin Rams. The view on the bus trip humbled many of the Yabbiemen, reminding them how fortunate we are for the seasonal conditions we have around the Young district. The dust storm to the West was a sign of what the Yabbiemen could expect on their arrival to Condo. An hour before kick-off there was some short-lived reprieve with a storm rolling in to soften the ground up a little before the game.
Captain Ned Mullany won the toss and elected for the Yabbiemen to kick-off and put the first hit of the game on.
From the kick-off both teams came out firing, as Condo started to make their way into the Yabbies’ half. Quick turn over ball by the Yabbies, followed by quick hands through the backs out to Owen Griffiths gave him the opportunity to show off his speed and evasive skills as he ran 60m+ for an awesome individual effort try to start the game off. Conversion successful by James Schiller.
Young 7-0 Condo After an outstanding individual effort try by the Yabbies, it was back to the horn-locking battle that was expected in this clash. For the next 15 minutes, neither side was prepared to give an inch.
A kick to get out their own half from the Yabbies saw the ball end up in the hands of the Condo fullback, Dennis Spathis. He returned fire quickly, putting a neat chip over the top and winning the foot race, collecting the ball and crossing the line for the Rams’ first try. Conversion successful by Jake Worland.
Young 7-7 Condo
The Yabbies were getting some fantastic defensive practice in during the first half, with very little possession or territory, but some very high tackle counts. The Rams continued to throw everything at the Yabbies and found very few holes or weakness, with most being fixed as soon as they were created. Whilst they weren’t really breaking the line of defence, the Rams kept creeping forward closer to the Yabbies’ line. Finally, Jamie Denyer found an opening for the Rams and crashed over for their second try of the match. Conversion successful by Jake Worland.
Young 7-14 Condo
The Yabbies finally caught a break at the ruck phase, earning a penalty deep in their own half while Condo had been on the attack. A quick tap by Ned and some quick ball wide saw James Schiller suck in the defenders for a textbook draw and pass to Owen. Owen made quick metres up the side of the field and managed to send the ball back infield to Ned before he was tackled. Ned looked like he could make it the rest of the way to the line, but was dragged down less than 10m out. A quick clean out of the ruck and the scrambling Condo defence saw a perfect opportunity for Beau O’Connor to take the ball from the back of the ruck and cross the line untouched by the Condo defence. Conversion successful by Owen Griffiths.
Young 14-14 Condo Half Time
Young 14-14 Condo With the game drawn at half time, the coaches on both sides would have been giving their respective teams a red, hot rev up about the importance of this match and how it’s result could be the deciding factor come Finals time in a few weeks.
The Yabbies took that message from Coach Ned to heart and came out firing for the second half. After a couple of phases, the ball made it wide to James Schiller who, yet again, showed off his impressive speed and skills to make some quick metres down the field. An pass from James back infield missed its initial mark in his brother Nick, but was quickly scooped up by Ned Mullany who was also there in support and he crossed the line for the Yabbies’ third try of the match. Conversion unsuccessful by Owen Griffiths.
Young 19-14 Condo
After finding their way deep into the Yabbies half yet again, Condo continued to throw wave after wave at the Yabbies defence, with lots of runs from the back of the ruck and off the scrumhalf. Then, finally they found a weakness close to the line and Dean Phillips crossed for the Rams’ third try of the match. Conversion unsuccessful by Jake Worland.
Young 19-19 Condo
With just over 15 minutes to go, the Yabbies suffered a big loss with Hamish “Hammer” Kaveney leaving the field with a head knock. Whilst this loss was a big blow, the Yabbies never looked like giving up!
The pressure that Condo had been building in attack continued to gain momentum as they marched the Yabbies backwards. The Yabbies defence held on for another 5 minutes after the loss of Hammer before Jake Worland found an opening and crashed over for the Rams’ fourth try. Conversion successful by Jake Worland
Young 19-26 Condo
The final 10 minutes saw the same intensity on the field as the first 10 minutes of the game, with the Yabbies eager to try and get the ball in hand so they could play rugby, but the Rams’ just as eager to keep the ball out of their reach. The physicality of the match to the bitter is really a testament to both of these teams and shows just how important this game could prove to be in a couple of weeks for Finals time.
Full Time Result Young 19-26 Condo
Coach Ned was quick to tell the squad to hold their heads high, “Although we might not have gotten the result we wanted on the scoreboard, there are a lot of positives to take away from this game! Our discipline was unreal, with only a handful of penalties around the breakdown which is showing that we’re really putting to practice what we’re training. We spent 80-90% of the second half defending and for them to only crack the line twice when they held the ball for that long is an absolute testament to the guts and heart that the boys showed out there today.”
Points Scorers:
Young
Tries Owen Griffiths, Beau O’Connor, Ned Mullany
Conversions 1/2 – Owen Griffiths 1/1 – James Schiller
Condobolin
Tries Dennis Spathis, Jamie Denyer, Dean Phillips, Jake Worland
Conversions 3/4 – Jake Worland
Best & Fairest Points:
3 – Owen “Schooner” Griffiths
2 –Hamish “Hammer” Kaveney”
1 – Dan Cormie
Players Player – Rowan Daley
Next weekend, the Yabbiemen travel to Harden to take on the Red Devils in what is pegged to be another exciting local derby! ! More details on the match to come with the release of the team announcement.
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