The two teams took the field and Harden won the toss and elected to receive the ball, which gave Captain Brad Wylie the chance to choose which way to run and he chose to run into the strong wind in the first half. It was Harden’s second set of the match where they took advantage of the weather conditions and kicked a 40/20 which gave them ball in prime attacking location. Not long after that they scored out wide to register the first points of the match. The conversion was missed and Harden led 4-0. 

The next 10 minutes was tough for Yass, with Harden dominating with their attack and the Magpies only just keeping them out.

Harden again kicked a 40/20 which made captain Wylie nervous about his earlier decision to run into the wind and would it prove to be too much for the Magpies to handle in the first half. Harden crossed again soon after, this time on the back of an attacking raid in the Magpies’ own fifty. The Hawks shifted wide and threw a number of miracle passes and managed to score right next to the post. The conversion was knocked over and Harden led 10-0. 

From the adjacent kickoff the Yass men kicked the ball out on the full which gave Harden the chance to attack in Yass’ half again. Yass got lucky when the Harden winger was ruled to be offside after scoring off a kick into Yass’ in goal. The halftime break couldn’t have come sooner for the visiting Yass team who had been out on their feet in the first half but somehow had managed to keep the high-flying Hawks to only a 10-0 lead.

The talk in the sheds at halftime was positive and quite calm for the Magpies because they knew what they had to do in the second half to get the job done. The second half started and it didn’t take long for the Yass men to get on the board crashing over under the post through hooker Jai Smith, who took advantage of a quick play the ball. Shaun Davis obliged and the score now read 10-6 in Harden’s favour.

Again the game turned into a set-for-set battle, with both teams defence holding strong until Yass was in a good attacking position. Five-eighth Scotty Waters then went to the line with the ball and with plenty of runners, threw a dummy and scored out wide. Shaun Davis again converted and Yass led 12-10 with 25 minutes left.

The Yass team made it hard on themselves by not completing the next set but again held Harden out close to their line. Frustration then crept into the Hawks’ game and they began to give away a number of penalties, which led to the Magpies attacking in Harden’s red zone once again. 

From a number of charging runs and quick play the balls, Yass managed to break through the Harden defence again, with halfback Matt Lawrence putting Shaun Davis over for a try. Unfortunately the conversion was missed so Yass still only had a 6 point buffer for the final 15 minutes of the game. 

Both teams were out on their feet but both managed to weather each other’s storm until the final two minutes of the game when a Yass player kicked down field and the Harden winger put his foot out which gave Yass the ball 30 metres out from the try line. The players then walked to the scrum and all they had to do was hold the ball for the set and the games was theirs. From the scrum win Matty Lawrence stepped to beat a defender and laid on a great pass for Davis to again score for the Magpies. The players were ecstatic and captain-coach Brad Wylie took the conversion to make the final score 22-10. 

Yass will now play the Bungendore Tigers at Bungendore this weekend in the grand final. For a number of Yass men it is a very exciting time, with it being their first grand final. The game time is on at 2.30pm on Saturday and it would be great to see some locals there to support the Magpies. The team has worked hard all year and can hopefully come home with the goods this weekend.

BOLD:

Yass 22 (tries: Shaun Davis(2), Scott Waters and Jai Smith, goals: Shaun Davis (2) and Brad Wylie) defeated Harden 10.

ITALICS: More photos at www.yasstribune.com.au.