The Brahmans played their ninth match in round one of the 2015 Woodbridge Cup competition against Condobolin on Saturday. Coming off a 50 point thrashing of Burrangong last week, the Rams would have been confident of success. However, after some welcome rain during the week, the Binalong ground was a little heavy under foot.
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The Brahmans Under 18s side had the bye; in fact the boys will not take the field again until mid-July. So, the Jersey Girls took on the top of the table Condobolin side which had only a draw against their record. Binalong opened strongly with a try to Maddie Miller in the fifth minute, straight up the centre and as though she had spiders all over her. Howard’s conversion set the 6-0 score and four minutes later Kaylah Smith crossed again for the half time result of 10-0. The first half was a little 'messy' with dropped ball and wild passes.
When the second stanza opened, Condobolin played with more vigour. The Jersey Girls resisted strongly and with good performances by Tammy Poidevin, Lucy Hammond and Bron Pollack who crossed in the opening minutes, the girls were much improved. Kaylah Smith converted the try and Jess Howard scored the final points with a try for the 20-14 win.
In the opening minutes of the first grade game, Binalong showed some gusto, however the Rams very soon served notice that they were here to play, albeit without a bench. The visitors surged down the field time and again and with some very heavy weight forwards, they made a lot of metres. Condobolin are blessed with very slick halves and the Brahmans seemed to have forgotten their defensive strategies. It looked very ordinary as these halves had a fine “chip-chase” game and put this to effective use.
Condobolin were full of running and scored in the fourth, ninth and fourteenth minutes to shock the home side into a 14-0 deficit. However, a bit better attack put the returning Daniel Poidevin over in the right corner, no conversion for a relieving 14-4 result. The Rams struck back with their own converted try 10 minutes short of half time to go 20-4 up.
When the second half opened in bitterly cold conditions, the home side’s crowd had been stunned into silence, but there was worse to come. After just five minutes, the Rams crossed again and converted for a depressing 26-4 score line. The Brahmans, with the up-hill run confronting them, their second loss for 2015 looked imminent - and at home this time!
But what happened in the next 35 minutes of play must rank as one of the most staggering displays of rugby league witnessed in Binalong for many years, if not decades. Henry Paton, playing in the centres had been making a minor pest of himself in the Condobolin defence line in the first half. Suddenly, Paton took the odds to it wide on the left to cross for the 26-8 score. Paton then repeated the effort not four minutes later; Rawlinson converted for the 26-14 result, with the 12 point deficit the crowd erupted.
The home team’s flurry of wide and expansive attack was back; their supporters loved it and told them so with very loud voices. The renewed barking brought on another three tries, the first by prop Reuben Olah and two magically woven tries by Chris Rawlinson himself. All these were converted and after almost 65 minutes of play, Binalong finally hit the front 32-26. The Rams had their fullback sent for 10 in the bin and were rapidly running out of puff, not surprising with Tony Worthy and James Blair ripping through their lines.
Nevertheless, the visitors picked their game up again with a clever chip chase and fortunate bounce to score wide on the left. However, the referee ruled a double movement and penalised them. Kaden Rawlinson saved an almost certain try during the game as the last man standing and Lewis Grange at hooker was busy all afternoon. With the game winding down and the Brahmans attacking strongly again, Ben Potts grabbed the final well earned try with less than three minutes on the clock.
A very lacklustre opening forty, and a simply stunning second half means the Brahmans live another day and retain second spot on the ladder. However, to leak 26 points at home against a seventh placed team is of concern. In other results: Trundle 46 def Burrangong 0, Peak Hill 34 def Eugowra 22, Cargo 36 def Gooloogong 10 and Grenfell 34 def Canowindra 22. Next week, Binalong have the long road trip to Trundle, interesting times?
League Tag: Jersey Girls 20, tries: M.Miller, K.Smith, B.Pollack and J.Howard, goals: J.Howard and K.Smith def Condobolin 14.
First grade: Brahmans 36, tries: H.Paton (2), C.Rawlinson (2), D Poidevin, R.Olah, B.Potts, goals: C. Rawlinson (4) def Condobolin Rams 26.
Referee: Mr. W Prosser.
