MACLEAY Valley took a stranglehold on the Group Three Rugby League minor premiership with a commanding 31-16 win over Wingham in the game played at the Wingham Sporting Complex.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
With three matches to play the Mustangs hold a four point cushion over the Tigers and look certain to host the major semi-final on Sunday August 11.
Macleay trailed 16-0 midway through the first half, although they had reduced the deficit to 16-12 at the break. The Mustangs dominated the second half and were labelled the 'benchmark' by Wingham coach Mick Sullivan after the game.
Macleay's forwards, led by lock Richard Roberts and second rowers Chris Piper and Jessie Douglas ripped into their Wingham rivals. The longer the game went on the better they got and they produced some punishing hits in defence. Roberts has an incredible work-rate, whether it be carting the ball forward or knocking down the opposition.
Five-eighth Stephan Blair provided the brilliance. His kicking game mesmerised the Tigers and provided the Mustangs with four tries. He scored three himself. There was an element of luck about the first, when the ball skewered off the side of his boot and straight to the unmarked Tyler Roberts, who scored. But there was nothing fortuitous about the rest. Blair either short kicked into space to have Wingham scrambling, or put up towering midfield bombs that had Wingham grasping for - and generally dropping - the ball.
Yet is all started off positively for Wingham. Big prop Joel Kliendienst powered through tackles from a set move close to the line soon after the kickoff for a try converted by Danny Russell. A Sullivan cross kick was gathered in by winger Joel Wilson for Wingham's second and then lock Brendan Butler worked his way through lazy defence for the third. Russell kicked two goals from three attempts for the 16 points.
But the Mustangs hadn't seen much ball. It was a half of two halves, with Macleay gaining the initiative after Roberts' try, with Blair regathering his own short kick to score soon after. Halfback Tyreece Sines had a faultless night with the boot and his two conversions rounded off the dozen points.
Wingham's attack and defence has been methodical for much of the season. But mistakes crept in during the second half as the Mustangs took control. Wingham only occasionally ventured into Macleay territory. The Mustangs converted pressure into points, with Blair adding two tries while he threw a long pass that centre Conrad Lardner gleefully accepted to cross the the other - the only try that didn't come off a kick. Sines added a field goal for good measure late in the game.
Second row/prop Nick Beacham was Winghams' hardest toiler along with lock Butler.
"I'm just super proud of my boys, the way they lifted,'' Macleay coach Russell Lardner said at fulltime.
He said he wasn't too worried when Wingham skipped to the early lead.
"I knew in the last 15 minutes of the first half that we had them,'' Lardner said.
"They had all the possession in the first half. We didn't complete our sets and that killed us.
"But we were outstanding in the second half. I couldn't be prouder of them.''
Sullivan thought Macleay wanted to win more than his side did.
"We had them 16-0 down and we took the foot off the throttle,'' he said.
The Tigers had fortune on their side the previous week when they beat Port City and Sullivan tended to agree that they've hit a flat spot.
"Our shape's gone,'' he said.
"And teams are probably lifting against us and we've been found out a bit in the last couple of weeks. We've made a couple of uncharacteristic errors in the last couple of games.
"Hopefully the disappear from here.''
Wingham won the women's league tag 26-0, the under 18s 20-6 and the reserve grade 30-18.
Meanwhile Port City and Wauchope played out a 20-20 draw while Forster-Tuncurry accounted for Taree City 28-10 after the scores were locked at 10-10 at halftime.
