A very overcast day and wet ground were bound to work in Cargo’s favour. The Brahmans depend upon fast and dry conditions to prevail; which favours their back line and lighter forwards for points.

And, that’s the way the game looked for the first 20 minutes. Cargo had a slight advantage in field position and possession. Ben Potts was again dominant but the referee repeatedly gave penalties, some of them obscure ones which ruined what should have been a free-flowing match between two respective premier teams.

Neither side could gain the ascendency over the other. Cargo are a well drilled and fit side which chose to run repeated wide back-line attacks on the Brahmans, this failed to work as that now famous Binalong defence held out every time. There were errors by both teams, most of them forced ones, but had the referee let the niggling penalties go, the small crowd could have witnessed a high speed, entertaining game of football.

A potentially serious ankle injury to Brahmans back rower Steve Greenwood brought the game to a halt at the 20 minute mark. Greenwood had to be chaired off. At the resumption, Ben Potts again showed his worth by steam-rolling Cargo defenders, the real attraction however, was Andrew Swaffield who moved from fullback to centre. Swaffield was dynamic all over the field; defensively he absolutely bashed the Heelers attack and managed to squeeze over for a try with 5 minutes of the first half remaining. Tim Regan slotted the conversion to give the Brahmans a 6-0 half time lead.

When the second half opened, Cargo struck back with a try against the Brahmans right defence to score near the corner. The conversion was successful in a swirling wind, at 6-6 this game was well in the balance. Binalong’s incredible patience with the ball and defending continued until a very clever chip and regather by halfback Henry Paton saw him score just wide of the posts. Regan obliged with the boot to bring up the 12-6 score line with 22 minutes remaining.

This game had descended into a desperate struggle between two very well-trained teams; repeated penalties almost ruined the spectacle. A protest at a refereeing decision by lock Tony Worthy saw him sent to the bin for 10 minutes and Binalong were down to 12 players.

Reuben Olah and Andrew Stadtmiller took the ball up strongly and Luke Donnelly kept the attack on the boil for the Brahmans. Then Swaffield injected himself into the attack, but Cargo resisted.

In a heart-stopping moment, a Cargo attacker managed to break through the weakened Binalong defence, with the line wide open it seemed as though the equalizer was a certainty. Seemingly from nowhere, Chris Rawlinson appeared and ran him down with metres to spare. Junior Dylan Arabin took the field for his initial senior game and did well.

With minutes to go, the penalties had seemed to swing Binalong’s way and the referee awarded Tim Regan with the chance to put the Brahmans 14-6 up, he took up the challenge and secured a very important away win for his new club.

In other First Grade results: Canowindra 80 def Burrangong 10, Eugowra 22 def Gooloogong 16, Condo 40 def Grenfell 38 and Peak Hill 44 def Trundle 38.

Binalong 14 (tries: Swaffield, Paton. Goals: Regan 3) def. Cargo 6. Referee: Brett Newllam.

The Jersey Girls continued their dominance of the League Tag Competition with a 42-10 win over Cargo. The team only had a bench of one but were very good right across the paddock. The usual suspects in Jess Howard and Lisa Naughton dominated play. Ali Giles was really impressive at fullback, especially under the high ball as the Cargo number 15 had a very long and high kicking game. The swirling wind definitely made life difficult for Giles.

But it was all the Bron Pollack show; she constantly harassed the Cargo defence and was usually in company with Jess Howard. Ang Taylor at five-eighth also chimed in with a try.

Jersey Girls 42 (tries: J.Howard (4), B.Pollack (2) Ang Taylor (1) Goals: J.Howard (4) def Cargo 10.) Referee: Mr Col Tangye.

(Juniors played Sunday against Burrangong- results not available)

Next Saturday the Brahmans take on Burrangong at the Binalong Recreation Ground, with kick-off scheduled for 12.50pm.