THE Scone Thoroughbreds wrapped up their preparations for the Bengalla Hunter Valley Group 21 Rugby League play-offs with emphatic performances in three grades at Pirtek Park, Singleton on Sunday.
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The victorious teams finished 2019 as minor premiers in their respective competitions.
Scone's undefeated first graders found themselves down by 10-0 following tries to Singleton's Luke Gardner and Brode Rinkin in the eighth and 25th minutes.
Will Niewenhuise converted the second try.
The Greyhounds played well and maintained pressure on the Thoroughbreds.
With 10 minutes to go, a bit of that was released when Hayden Topliss regained a kick - put through by Tim Smith - and went over for the first of his three.
Smith, who had only just missed a try minutes before, went over in the corner just before the break.
Jake Watts converted both and Scone went into half-time with a narrow 12-10 lead.
The second period was to be a much different result with the Thoroughbreds scoring a further 36 points while preventing any further for Singleton.
Brady Curry benefited from a terrific dummy from Jarrod Wicks, which put himself into a gap and found Curry in support.
Topliss was in for his second from a scrum soon after following a Singleton knock-on near their 20m line.
Despite defending a couple of sets in their territory, Scone kept its rivals at bay for the next 10 minutes.
Once they had the ball back, however, Dan Ritter made a long run into the opposition half before finding Watts who went over untouched.
Topliss took a last tackle kick from Singleton and the left side backs did the rest, quickly finding Smith to score his second in the corner.
With eight minutes remaining, Adam Clydsdale raced from dummy half, found Topliss again at his side and who went over for his hat-trick.
In the dying stages, Wicks found Ronin Hadden running through a gap and he scored near the posts.
Watts converted all but one of the second half tries - several from the sideline.
The Thoroughbreds finished the regular season undefeated and claimed the minor premiership by a massive 14 points.
Coach Aaron Watts was happy with the final result.
"We were under pressure at half-time," he said.
"We spoke about what we needed to do in the second half and we followed it up on the field."
Scone's reserves had a strong 30-16 win over a Singleton team who was fighting for a spot in the semis.
There wasn't too much between the sides for much of the game, however a couple of late tries extended the lead and sealed the win.
Four-pointers went to Nick Crackett (2), Ryan Hawkshaw, Gary McKeon and Tom Hunt.
Kyle Wilcher added five conversions.
The "seconds" also ended 2019 on top of the competition, by one point, thanks to the Aberdeen Tigers defeating the Merriwa Magpies the day before.
Coach Jade Smith was pleased with the outcome.
"We knew Singleton had a lot to play for and that showed on the field," he said.
"But, we finally had a win which we had to work hard for.
"Winning the minor premiership is a bonus, however we know we have hard matches ahead.'
The under-18s had a very tough day at the office.
The Scone team started the match with no reserves and kept trying throughout the fixture.
Singleton, this year's benchmark, scored a strong 62-6 victory.
Matt Smart scored the sole try which was converted.
Despite the result, coach Chris Brennan remains optimistic.
"The lack of reserves didn't help us at all," he said.
"However, those on the field gave their all today.
"We know we can challenge the teams in the finals and that's what we will be aiming to do."
Scone's league tag squad got the day off to a winning start for the Thoroughbreds, turning a 12-0 half-time lead into a 36-0 triumph.
Samantha Elphick added 12 points to the tally with one try and five goals.
Sofie Casson also scored a hat-trick, Coral Hagan extended her tryscoring lead over Tom Hagan with another four-pointer and Nicky Schliffke also had a double.
Coach Sofie Casson is now concentrating on the upcoming final series.
"We trained particularly well and that showed on the field [today]," she said.
"We need the same commitment and execution this weekend when we take on Murrurundi."
Round 15 results
First grade - Scone defeated Singleton 46-10, Aberdeen defeated Denman 50-0
Reserve grade - Murrurundi defeated Greta Branxton 30-24, Scone defeated Singleton 30-16, Aberdeen defeated Merriwa 14-12, Muswellbrook defeated Denman 68-0
Under-18s - Muswellbrook defeated Denman 38-26, Singleton defeated Scone 62-6
League tag - Merriwa defeated Aberdeen 24-4, Scone defeated Singleton 36-0, Muswellbrook defeated Denman 58-0
Ladders
First grade - Scone 30, Aberdeen 16, Singleton 10, Denman 4
Reserve grade - Scone 25, Merriwa 24, Aberdeen 23, Muswellbrook 18, Singleton 18, Murrurundi 4, Greta Branxton 2, Denman 2 (qualification breach Rd.4 DRLFC loss of 2 points; qualification breach Rd.5 Murrurundi loss of 2 points)
Under-18s - Singleton 29, Muswellbrook 21, Aberdeen 15, Scone 14, Denman 9 (qualification breach Rd.1 DRLFC loss of 2 points)
League tag - Scone 28, Murrurundi 26, Merriwa 21, Muswellbrook 15, Singleton 12, Aberdeen 12, Denman 2 (qualification breach Rd.1 DRLFC loss of 2 points; qualification breach Rd.1 Muswellbrook loss of 2 points)
Club championships - Scone Rugby League Football Club Inc 125.5, Aberdeen Rugby League Football Club Inc 87.5, Singleton United Rugby League Football Club Inc 82, Muswellbrook Rugby League Football Club Inc 56.5, Merriwa Rugby League Football Club Inc 46.5, Denman Rugby League Football Club Inc 27, Murrurundi Rugby League Football Club Inc 22, Greta Branxton Rugby League Football Club Inc 3
2019 play-off draw
Saturday, August 24 -
Minor semi-final (Pirtek Park, Singleton)
(Times to be confirmed)
11.45am: league tag, Merriwa v Muswellbrook
1pm: under-18s, Aberdeen v Scone
2.25pm: reserve grade, Aberdeen v Muswellbrook
4pm: first grade, Singleton v Denman
Sunday, August 25 -
Major semi-final (Scone Park, Scone)
10am: league tag, Scone v Murrurundi
11.15am: under-18s, Singleton v Muswellbrook
12.40pm: reserve grade, Scone v Merriwa
2.15pm: first grade, Scone v Aberdeen