Last Saturday was indeed a day for celebration in the village of Binalong as the town was triumphant over Harden's Hawkettes and Hawks in both of the George Tooke Shield Grand Finals. The Jersey Girls ran out 7-2 winners to claim the inaugural George Tooke Shield touch premiership over Harden.
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In the men's game, the Waldren Construction Brahmans took their second straight premiership by 34-4 from the Hawks. Harden came to Binalong full of confidence after their resounding defeat of the Yass Magpies at McLean Oval on the previous Saturday. One must wonder if the Hawks actually played their grand final last week.
Conditions were perfect for the games, bright sunny conditions, a big crowd and a warmish 17 degrees at kick-off. However, the match started awkwardly for the Brahmans, a dropped ball in the first ruck put the Hawks on the attack in handy field position. It was a nervous start for both outfits and Binalong gave away a penalty almost immediately. The Hawks were unable to capitalise and the Brahmans survived.
History and statistics don't play for either side, but the fact that the Brahmans only allowed 64 points to be scored against them in the regular season said volumes for the job ahead of Harden in this game. By contrast, the Hawks leaked 156 points for the year. Brahman's captain/coach Rawlinson was restricted to the sideline and directed his charges from there. Tony Worthy was handed the job of on-field Captain.
This match was a very entertaining encounter, the game rotated from end to end and neither side could gain the ascendency in the first half. Harden's Tyson Astill and Brent Turner both put in enormous efforts without reward. In reply, Brahmans Tony Worthy, Ben Spencer and James Blair attacked and repelled in kind. It was a bruising and brutal conflict between two very competent teams.
Both sides threatened to score but in the end it was the Brahmans Matt Cooke who kicked a wicked rolling grubber into Harden's in-goal and centre Craig Irwin fielded the ball and scored. He then converted his own try to bring up the 6-0 halftime score.
At the resumption of play, it seemed the stalemate would continue until a play-the-ball near the visitor's line saw Scott Naughton burrow over the chalk near the posts. The Hawks had kept Naughton contained in the first half but allowed him to score the simplest of tries. Craig Irwin again obliged with the boot to bring up the 12-0 score.
Fatigue started to set in on Harden and there were frequent stoppages for injuries. The superior line speed of the premiers forced mistakes from the Hawks. After 26 minutes, Matt Cooke made a line break and sliced through the defence to score wide out. The conversion was missed but three minutes later Irwin was in for his second try of the day. He once again converted his own try to move the score on to 28-0.
Almost from the ensuing kick-off, Shaun Davis ran onto a perfectly placed kick after a break down the left and brought the ball around under the posts for Craig Irwin to land his fifth goal for the day. A former Manly Sea Eagles player and coach, has quoted that: "great premierships are built around defence" and this was certainly true of the Binalong Brahmans over the past two years.
With a minute of the game remaining, the gallant Hawks forced their way to Binalong's try line and scored a late consolation try. The conversion went wide of the posts and the game finished at 34-4. It was a remarkable two years of undefeated football from the Waldren Construction Brahmans. For the second year in succession, Scott Naughton was awarded Man of the Match.
As this is my last report for 2014, I must thank our stats team of Greg Weller and Leon Arabin for doing the pencilling for me all year. The reports could not got to print without their support.
Binalong 34 (Irwin 2, Naughton, Cooke and Davis tries; Irwin 5 goals) defeated Harden 4. Referee: Mr Robert Moore.
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