The Southern Inland Rugby Union Preliminary final was played out in Grenfell on Sunday with mixed results for Young’s Junior Yabbies.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Continuing their season steamroll over the opposition, the Under 13 and Under 15s made it through to the next round of finals, while our Under 11s were unable to suppress the resolve of their season’s arch rival - Griffith.
The Under 15s opponent was Wagga – always with a keen forward pack and they did not disappoint on Sunday.
Young’s forwards were given a solid workout. Liam McGregor, James Waters and Ben Davis made some hard yards off the back of the ruck. Jack Alcorn, Chandler Hannaford and Justin Flannery made some big runs and defensively the Yabbies forwards were excellent holding out Wagga on their try line several times.
The forwards’ teamwork in defence was superb.
It was the backs however that won the day.
Charlie Brown’s running angles were brilliant, resulting in several tries without even being touched by Wagga.
Kayne Mills and Sam Davis were solid in defence while Dale Prindable finished off a quick tap, run, draw and pass by Ignacio Bonsembiante to score in the corner.
The final score was Young 40 to Wagga 5.
Tries to Charlie Brown (4), Ben Davis and Dale Prindable. Best and fairest went to Charlie Brown, Ben Davis and Sam Davis.
With the Under 15s forwards high work rate at the breakdown and solid defence, our backs brilliance in attack, and Sam Davis’ goal kicking form - look out Albury!
With coach Em away battling crowds in the City to Surf, the Under 13s were left with strict instructions to play like no tomorrow.
Despite a sneaky try from Wagga first up, skilful play making from Tom Jenkins and James Schiller put the Yabbies in the lead.
Jack Lockhead crossed the line for his first try of the season with Nick Alcorn also adding some points to the board. Archie Bulger’s magic intercept resulted in a try with some tactical rucking from Oscar Nuthall and strong running from Rory Turner and flanker twins, Tom and Declan Telfer.
With each player contributing to a terrific win, we look towards our next match against Albury with confidence. Well done to the boys for yet another outstanding performance.
The Under 11s were excited about their game against Griffith and full of enthusiasm.
The first half saw the Yabbies fly out of the blocks with two quick tries out wide to Bevan Foxall and Max Kirkwood.
Big tackling from Charlie Sullivan and Will Martin prevented the Griffith forwards making ground. Good defence in close from Jack Kennett and also out wide from Noah Forbutt shut down their attacking moves with Will Waddell making some barnstorming runs to gain the ascendency.
Griffith through their forwards were able to pull one try back before half time with some strong pick and drive that the Yabbies couldn’t contain.
The second half saw both teams battle hard at the breakdown with Mikey Fenney, Jacob Maslin and Will Cusack scramble for possession and secure ball through good cleaning out. Sam Smith and Johnny Douglas made some good runs putting pressure on Griffith but turnovers from dropped ball and missed kicking saw the opposition bounce back with a try.
Sensing a drop in our resolve the Griffith blacks exposed our tiring defence and scored the next two tries.
Harvey was able to reduce the margin by one late in the match from a penalty but Griffith secured a final try close to full time.
Coach Fin Martin would like to thank all the parents who followed their boys around to training and matches, for washing the jerseys and barracking the team along for the year.
Yabbies Under 13s and Under 15s will play in Albury this Sunday for a place in the grand final.