Young Yabbies Rugby Union Club first grade team recorded its first win of the season 24-14 with a polished display of disciplined rugby against the Cooma Red Devils at Cranfield Oval last Saturday.
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Taking control from the onset the Yabbies forward pack were dominant driving the Devils backwards with excellent pods and clear-outs. A clean ball from a ruck saw the ball move quickly along the backline for centre Michael Stallard to outpace the cover and score. From the re-start, Young were quickly back on the attack and had Cooma under pressure to keep them out. A five metre scrum to the home side resulted in a push-over try scored by captain and lock forward, Tom Kent. The Yabbies continued to have the advantage of position as they applied considerable pressure on the Devils defensive line to create scoring opportunities only to give away silly penalties at critical times. However, five-eighth Brendon Shoard dummied to his outside backs and the opposition line opened for Shoard to punch through the gap to score for a halftime lead of 19-0.
The second half started badly for Young with Captain Tom Kent unable to return to the field due to a shoulder injury. Kent had been a major force in the Yabbies first half form and his loss was a significant blow to the side. Cooma, however, had regrouped and came out fired up and only stout defence led by Harry Warrick kept them at bay for a period of time. The constant pressure finally took its toll and Cooma scored a good backline try with the game ebbing and flowing as the two teams fought for supremacy. A line-out win by Young saw the ball move swiftly through the hands of the backline for winger Orisi Loco to score. Both sides continued to attack strongly but were repelled by solid defence until Cooma found a gap and were able to score out wide. Young went back on the attack and had further scoring opportunities when Cooma were twice penalised in front of their posts but they didn’t take the kick. A last minute try-saving tackle from Brendon Shoard cut the Cooma fullback down just metres short and Young were able to secure their first win of the season.
The best and fairest points went 3 to Brendon Shoard, 2 to Harry Warrick and 1 to Hamish Kaveny. Player’s player was Shoard. Young 24 (M Stallard, T Kent, B Shoard and O Loco tries, Stallard 2 conv.) defeated Cooma 14.
