Scone Brumbie’s Tim Maddocks summed up the game.

Going to the game this bus trip had a very different feeling to last week, the boys were rowdy and their co-coaches lost their voices trying to discuss game tactics over the top of them.

In saying that when we got off the bus it was all heads on for what we expected to be an extremely tough game against Armidale, who had just the previous week beaten our first round victors in Farrer.

With 16 players available on the night some would be forgiven for thinking we were going to be up against it.

As we had just the one on the bench the coaches thought it best to keep the warm-up brief and focus on what we had worked on at training during the week - the breakdown & defence.

There was a little scare just prior to running out as Angus S went looking for his mouthguard (fortunately it was found down the seat of his mum’s car) and Daz had trouble helping Jack C with his difficulties applying head tape before the game.

Nevertheless, we got out there on time and eager to test ourselves against one of the best teams in the competition. Walshy the Ref gave us a quick pre-match pep talk and it was all guns blazing for the kick-off!

Our start was steady if not a bit shaky as we allowed Armidale an early break through our line with some absent defence. Immediately the opposition looked ominous in what was hopefully not a sign of things to come.

A couple of dropped balls and missed passes from our boys saw the opposition attacking our goal line not long after kick-off and an injury to our five-eighth Jack F early in the first half meant we had to rejig our backline, with Christian S coming on to the wing and forcing others in the backline to shuffle in. This was going to be another good test for our boys who are getting better each week at identifying and adjusting to what is required when things go wrong in a game of football, as they often can!

It is nice to have so many leaders out there on the field that the team can self-manage and special mention must go to Charlie R, Josh C and Ollie S who found themselves all in new positions at this point and played outstandingly. Harrison G who did not have to shuffle also played very well out there on the left wing.

Despite our ostensible disadvantage in losing five-eighth Jack F early in the piece, we defended courageously - forcing Armidale to resort to a cross-field chip which (with a typically high bounce on the Tamworth Magpies home deck) resulted in a try to the opposition close to the sideline.

Credit must go to Armidale for their ability to string several phases together and at the end of it be innovative enough to come up with a nice cross-field play however we were very happy with the way the boys held on in defence for so long, answering almost all questions that were put to them in the first passage of play.

The condensed first half finished with Scone attacking Armidale's try line and it was only a couple of dropped balls that allowed Armidale go in to the break with a 7 - 0 lead.

The half time chat from the coaches was focussed on the fact that we were trying to do too much from the first phase of play, including run it out of our own half and spreading it wide too soon, usually when the opportunity to do so had not arisen. 

It was explained to the boys that we had to build phases, exert some pressure on the opposition and seek to exploit mismatches in defence when they were on out wide.

It was clear that if we were to be patient in the second half and trust that we had the ability, we could finish over the top of what was a top tier side in this competition. Exciting times, happy days.

The boys didn't need much convincing that we were in this game up to our ears!

We picked up where we had left off in the second half, forging our way down field with some solid carries from Jack C and Reagan H.

It was nice to see boys flying into the breakdown with reinvigorated enthusiasm and the energy levels definitely picked up as we sensed an opportunity to mount a comeback.

Otis B led the charge at the breakdown but all the boys put in a top effort which really pleased the coaches to see.

Sustained pressure saw us get very close to the opposition’s line before eventually swinging it wide and finding Harry S out there with a little opportunity, one which he was only too happy to take to score in the corner and put us within striking distance with about 20 minutes to play. 7 - 5 to Armidale.

More of the same followed, a complete 15-man drive down the field, good phase play and hard work at the breakdown led to an impressive team try finished off nicely by Harry S this time down the left touchline.

A try celebration for the ages was quickly followed by a conversion and we found ourselves 12 - 7 in front with 15 minutes to play!

The boys really dug their toes in from here. With the exception that first defensive lapse in the first half, I cannot recall another instance where the opposition was able to penetrate our defensive line.

With roughly 5 minutes to play, however, Armidale managed to build some phase-play pressure and put us on the back foot. A couple of indiscretions at the breakdown saw Walshy march us downfield and we were locked in trench-like warfare on our line in the dying minutes of the game. 

Sustained pressure from Armidale brought about a defensive mismatch and Armidale's rather nippy five-eighth crossed over out wide, giving them the opportunity to kick the winning goal after the bell.

We held our collective breath and (much to the relief of the Scone players, parents and coaches) the conversion attempt was unsuccessful and the game finished up a 12-all draw.

Those who saw the game would say we were unlucky not to win rather than that we were lucky not to lose.

Although we didn't win it was a fantastic effort from the boys and a huge improvement on the previous weeks.

We showed that we are a very tight-knit, competitive team and will be a challenge for anyone to beat in the competition when we turn up to play.

The improvement we are showing from week to week is extremely exciting, the boys' attitudes to training have been fantastic and it’s great to see our hard work pay-off in our performances.

All the boys who were asked to play out of position this week showed plenty of versatility this week when asked to do so.  This was particularly noticeable in defence, which can often be tricky having never trained in those positions before.

Armidale were possibly a little surprised by what we threw at them in what I’m sure will be a wake-up call to the rest of the competition.

Our effort at the breakdown was, as Daz the bus driver noted, “poles apart” from the previous week.

The coaches were extremely pleased with the all-round performance, not relying on any one person to do the job but with everyone chipping in where required.

Our next game is on the 15th of June against Farrer in Tamworth.