The Rams, who squared off against third-ranked Taralga on Saturday at Victoria Park, were unable to prevent errors which gave the visitors several scoring opportunities. 

Coach Lance Wellington was quite calm about the result, saying that a combination of injuries and new tactics had turned this season into a launchpad for the next few years. 

“We’ve got a fairly young team, we’ve had a lot of injuries this year, season ending injuries, so it’s getting that continuity [from the team],” Wellington said. 

“We try a lot of new things, we’re trying to play a very expansive game. You’ve gotta have the skill level to be able to do that, [and] the boys have been working hard on that.” 

The hard work was evident in patches during the game. By and large, the Rams challenged Taralga and played a tough brand of football. 

However, the test for Yass was maintaining possession. Fumbles and missed passes allowed Taralga to reclaim the ball, and they refused to relinquish control for much of the match. 

Similar lapses in the defensive lines allowed Taralga’s players to break through and score several tries, accounting for most of the score difference. 

There were some bright spots amid the largely unsuccessful afternoon for Yass. 

One such light was Harry Bush, whose remarkable foot-speed and nimbleness around the sidelines accounted for one try, and nearly several more. 

The first half of the match was where most of the damage was done for Yass. Some late tries for Taralga extended the lead to 7 – 26, but the second half was considerably more competitive. 

Wellington said that Yass’s primary issue was its tendency to give away unnecessary scoring opportunities. 

“We have no problem scoring tries, we tend to bleed points at different times of the game, and we end up playing catchup football,” he said. 

The Rams have lost six starting players to injury this year, which has forced Wellington to mix the roles around in order to compensate. 

“Throughout the year, we’ve been very competitive against the top teams,” he said. 

“We’re taking players that are playing in unaccustomed roles, and we’re teaching them, and to me that part of the development side is really good.”

According to Wellington, the team’s primary issue is simple. 

“We’re not completing, we’re not finishing the game.

“At all different stages we’ve taken the top teams right to the wire, but we’ve just got to learn over the next part of the developing period that, we’ve just got to learn to win and we’ve just got to shut out games.”

The Rams will go up against Jindabyne next week, in a clash which will decide whether or not the latter can crack the top four. 

The following week, Yass will close out its season against second-placed Bungendore in a tough final round event. 

The Rams take on Jindabyne at John Connors Oval. The match will start at 2:30pm on Saturday, where Yass will be hoping to put together some good form and win the second last match of the season.