WHILE a lot of the attention will be focused on this Sunday’s Group 11 first grade grand final between Macquarie Raiders and Dubbo CYMS, the two arch rivals will also do battle in the under-18s decider after the Raiders booked their spot with a 30-18 win over Parkes on Sunday.
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With CYMS waiting in the wings for the winner, the Raiders turned things on early and tries to five-eighth Swade Dunn and prop Shaquille Gordon saw them lead 12-0 before the Spacemen could get settled into the contest.
Parkes hit back through a try to Sam Dwyer before Macquarie kicked away again courtesy of Warren Dodd and Marty Fernando crossing the line.
A Myles Smith-try just prior to half-time saw the scoreboard read 24-10 to Macquarie at the break and while Parkes did their best to rally and got the score to 24-18, a late try to reserve forward Craig Field sealed the win for the Raiders.
Coach Greg Edwards admitted he was excited about the win and the prospect of having three teams involved on grand final day.
“We spoke about how winning this match would give us all three teams in the grand finals and it’s a great achievement for the club,” Edwards said.
“I thought our first 20 minutes was exceptional and we were able to get a jump on them and in semi-finals it is always hard to chase points.
“In the second half I think we probably slowed down a bit due to the heat but overall I was happy.
“CYMS have been the benchmark in this competition all season and I think we probably need to improve a bit in order to beat them but we’ve seen plenty of times before that anything can happen in grand finals.”
Macquarie trainer Mark Murphy will be flat out this week dealing with niggling injuries across all three sides, including under-18s second-rower Daniel Buckerfield, who tweaked an ankle in Sunday’s win.
CYMS too will have a disjointed week as Isaah Yeo recovers from a broken nose and concussion suffered early in the Fishies’ dramatic 16-13 extra-time win over Parkes in first grade, although Edwards admitted he expects the classy back to be on the field this Sunday.
o Macquarie Raiders 30 (Warren Dodd, Swade Dunn, Shaquille Gordon, Marty Fernando, Craig Field tries; Dunn 5 goals) def Parkes Spacemen 18 (Myles Smith 2, Sam Dwyer, Jordan Pope tries; Chad Porter goal)
