THE Scone Thoroughbreds have continued their early season strong form having four wins against the visiting Denman Devils.
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The Ladies League Tag had a tough first half of football with the Denman team defending well.
The first try by Sofie Casson didn’t come until only 7 minutes to go with Rebecca Hill scoring her first shortly before the bell to give a 10 nil half time, thanks to a Sam Elphick Conversion.
The second half started differently however, with Rebecca Hill running off a lovely pass form Georgia Watts to cross again, virtually from the kick off.
Charmaine Bloomfield was next to cross from long distance. Sam Elphick finished off a nice back line movement with 10 to go, followed by Bloomfield scoring her second in similar circumstances.
Sam Elphick crossed for her second right on the bell and also converted one in the second half for a final score of 34:0.
Coach Josh Adams once again praised the ladies defence and their patience in attack.
“Denman made it tough for us in the first half, to their credit,” he said.
“We just kept plugging away however and showed some good attack as well, which was also pleasing.”
The Under 18’s was a close match from start to finish. The Devils were first on the board with only 10 to go. Corey Harris was able to respond and the successful conversion gave the young men a 6:4 advantage at half time.
A long range try to Zac Howarth following a Zac Fulton break was next for the locals, Ben Fechner’s conversion giving a 12:4 lead. Five minutes later Ben Fechner barged over, extending the lead to 16:4. Denman proved their worth however and responded with a 6 pointer.
Ronin Hadden scored from 40 out, thanks to some solid forward work in the set, taking the score to 20:10. Denman crossed with a couple to go but Scone hung on for the final 20:16 scoreline.
Coach Chris Brennan was encouraged by the win.
“We have a big squad of players this year and there were a few positional changes this week – all the lads went well and had to work hard for the win,” he said.
“They know there is plenty of healthy competition each week for a run”
The Reserves had a big win last week and there was plenty of interest to see if they could back it up. Well they certainly did – 28:6 at half time became 68:6 at the final hooter.
Ryan Hawkshaw had a memorable first half crossing for three. Tom Vincent, Brady Curry and Checka Brennan also crossed for four pointers with Kyle Wilcher adding a couple of conversions. Denman also managed a try however they had a tough day.
The second half saw the score ticking over after 5 minutes with Will Tudor crossing. It was pretty much a procession from there on – with tries also going to Josh Noble, Tom Vincent another two (hatrick for the day), Isaac Smith, Brady Curry for his second, and Ryan Hawkshaw for this fourth. Jade Smith, Ryan Hawkshaw and Kyle Wilcher added conversions.
Coach Jade Smith was obviously happy with the win but not getting carried away with the result.
“There a lot of games to go in the season and we have plenty of matches which will challenge us – the result is good – but we have to keep training hard and improving,” he said.
First Grade was a torrid affair with three players from Denman and one from Scone having a rest in the sin bin during the course of the game.
Denman were off to an early start with Trent Walker crossing for two unconverted tries in the first 10 minutes. Daniel Ritter continued his try scoring form with a response on the back of a good run from Joel Harrison, and then a second thanks to a lovely pass from Jarrod Wicks.
A penalty near the try line saw a well worked move resulting in Wes Suckley crossing with seven to go. Wicks converted a couple giving a 16:8 half time score.
Denman started with one player down however were next to score after building pressure thanks to a number of penalties narrowing the difference to 16:12.
Jarrod Wicks showed his ability from dummy half crossing for a much needed try 10 minutes later. Joel Harrison then finished off some nice backline play and lovely pass from Tim Smith.
Things heated up in the middle and two Denman and one Scone were off for ten, returning with only a couple of minutes to go. Tim Smith capped his strong game with a try while Scone had a numeric advantage bring the final score to 34:12, with Wicks converting all three tries.
Coach Aaron Watts was not happy with the start of the game and the number of errors.
“Of course the main aim is the win – which we achieved, however there is plenty to work on following that performance,” he said.