Scoreboard attendants had a heavy workload during round 17 of the Christie and Hood Castlereagh League competition as big scores were the order of the day.
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Both the Trangie Magpies and the Coonabarabran Unicorns rugby league teams had final outing for the year with both teams having a bye in the final round.
Both had road trips to wind up their 2017 commitments and were on the wrong end of lopsided score sheets with the Maggies going down 72-12 to Coonamble while the Unicorns well beaten by Gulgong, going down 78-6.
The biggest score was recorded at Gilgandra with the Panthers downing a gallant, but outgunned Coolah Kangaroos outfit 82-nil.
The final score did little to reflect the effort that the Roos put in against the competition frontrunners.
The visitors would have been pleased with their first half effort, going to the sheds 20-nil down, after they had put in a solid first half performance.
Things immediately went pear shaped in the second half for the red and whites and and in the ensuing 25 minutes, they didn’t have a single set of possession.
Their first contact with the ball in the second half came with just 15 minutes remaining in the game.
Unfortunately at that point the Panthers had a 76-nil lead after making the most of having 100 per cent of the possession. With a better share of the ball, the Roos let in just one more try in the final minute.
Referee Peter Evan attracted a lot of praise for his handling of the game, awarding just one penalty in 80 minutes.
Saturday is the final round of the Castlereagh League season with the Baradine Magpies travelling to Gilgandra to face a stern examination against the reigning premiers and undefeated competition leaders.
The Panthers will be wary of the Maggies, rating the round nine clash against the Black and Whites at Baradine as one of their toughest encounters so far this season.
The Magpies are the only side that has lead the Panthers on the scoreboard at half time in 2017 and will be quietly confident that if they can replicate their recent form, it should be an entertaining Boronia Cup Challenge game.
Mathematically Dunedoo can still force their way into the semi-finals, but it will take a combination of a big loss by Baradine and a big win by them over the Coonamble Bears at Dunedoo for that to happen.
In terms of points differential between the Swans and the Magpies, Baradine currently holds an 80-point advantage.
The Swans have proven to be a handy outfit, and at home, and coming off a strong win against Gulgong a fortnight ago they might rate their chances of upsetting the Bears and giving themselves a chance of playing finals.
