Group 10 remains unbeaten through four rounds of the inaugural Western Women’s Rugby League season, surviving an almighty scare to edge out Group 11 by just four points in a tense derby clash at Parkes’ Pioneer Oval on Saturday.
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After Group 10 shot to a 16-6 half-time lead and extended that to a 20-point buffer with a pair of tries directly after the break, a blowout looked pretty likely.
Group 11 had other plans though and found a much-needed spark in attack, which led to a quick-fire Rebecca Smyth double and a Rhi Sutherland four-pointer as well.
Those tries came in the space of just 10 minutes and, with two Tarlee Roberts conversions, Group 11 was back within a converted try at 26-22.
But, as the mercury soared above 30 degrees, Group 10 hung on during a tense final 10 minutes to record a thrilling four-point win.
“It was stressful,” Group 10 coach Jordan Dwyer said.
“We led 16-6 and scored another two not long into the second half then just lost the plot, we made too many errors, gave away penalties and Group 11 were good enough to take advantage.
“We had some big defensive plays from Jacky Lyden, Ella-J Harris and Kaitlyn Phillips in the final minutes that got us home.”
Dwyer went on to give Group 11 plenty of credit, a deserved rap considering their dramatic improvement since round one – the last time the two sides met.
Group 10 had a field day at Blayney that afternoon, winning 30-4 in a dominant start to the season.
“It was good for us to have a close one, Group 11 were much-improved,” Dwyer said, highlight Bathurst St Pat’s wrecking ball Haylee Lepaio as his side’s best.
Group 10 also picked up a win in the under-18 fixture.
Despite having no bench the Kiara Sullivan-inspired Group 10 outfit secured a 26-16 victory, handing Group 11 it’s first loss of the season.
Group 10 continues its season against Woodbridge at Oberon on Saturday before meeting Castlereagh in the final round on April 7, at Gulgong.
The grand final – a first-two-past-the-post decider – is scheduled for Saturday, April 14.