With one exception big scores were the order of the day in round 11 of the Christie and Hood Castlereagh League competition.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The exception was played out at Coonamble where the Bears entertained the Trangie Magpies in a closely fought tussle.
The visitors got away to a scorching start and had raced in two tries in the opening six minutes to lead 10 points to nil and it was looking as if it was going to be a long afternoon in the office for the Coonamble faithful.
However when a degree of possession was forthcoming the Bears were able to claw their way back into the contest and launched some productive attacking raids that netted them points on the scoreboard and whilst they were six points in arrears at half time, the score being 14 to 20 in favour of the Magpies, the home side was well in the contest.
Growing in confidence and showing plenty of heart the Bears more than matched it with the black and whites in the second stanza and had a sideline conversion attempt found its mark after the final siren they would have captured the two competition points with a thrilling victory.
As it turned out the two teams shared the spoils with the match ending in an exciting 28 all draw.
In other games Gulgong retained the Boronia Cup when they saw off a challenge by from the Dunedoo Swans, winning the game 50 points to 24, Coonabarabran continued their unbeaten run when they downed the Binnaway Bombshells 44 to 8 at The Crater and Gilgandra were too strong for the Cobar Roosters in Gilgandra, racking up 70 points to the visitors 22.
The match of the round this weekend will see Dunedoo at home to Gilgandra in what could be a pivotal game for the Swans.
Dunedoo currently sits on 12 competition points in equal fourth spot with Trangie, but the Magpies enjoy a superior points differential which puts extra pressure on the Swans to win to stay in the race to the semi-finals.
A loss by them, and a win by Trangie, who will be at home to Binnaway, will place Dunedoo in a precarious situation.
In other games, Coonabarabran will be playing host to Coonamble and while there is a fair variance between the two teams in their relative positioning on the competition ladder the Unicorns would be ill-advised to be complacent going into this game against one of their fiercest arch rivals.
Similarly, the Gulgong Terriers cannot afford to be lax when they travel to play Baradine in Magpie Land. The Maggies are a capable unit and always lift at home and could well put it to the Terriers.
The league tag match of the round will be played at Dunedoo with the fourth-placed Swannettes up against the ladder leading Pink Panthers from Gilgandra.
