The Reserve Grade Yabbies’ season came to an end on Saturday as they were defeated 41-7 in the preliminary finals of the John I Dent Cup.
Young went into the round as the only non Canberra-based team, only to be pipped at the post against what captain-coach Tom Wills could only label as “a better team”.
“They were bigger, faster, stronger and we didn't play as well as we did the week before,” he said.
“It wasn’t like we were cheated out of it, they were a bloody good team.
“We didn’t bring our A game and they capitalised on it.
“Everyone had a good game, put in for the full 70 minutes and we did well to get there.”
The Wests Rugby Club opened the scorecard with a penalty goal, only for Young to respond with a try by Corey Randall who intercepted and ran the full length of the field to score.
That would be Young’s only try as they were forced to defend for 80 per cent of the game.
“There wasn’t a lot of possession for us, and if you don’t have the football you can’t score points,” Wills said.
While Wills hailed the match a complete team effort, points went to Julian Rolls (3), Matt Happer (2) and Ross Everdell (1). Jack Everdell earned players player.
“Rollsy and Ross were our centres and that’s where most of the traffic was directed,” Wills said.
“They defended well all game and when they did get the ball they tested them.
He added that Matt and Jack – both relatively new to the sport – also showed skill and heart on the day.
On reflecting Young’s first season in the Canberra-based competition, Wills said it’s far more competitive than the Southern Inland Rugby Union Competition and offers more depth in opposition.
“We held our own and came a long way from scraping a team together to making it into the semi-finals, all the while being competitive,” he said.
“Ending up third isn’t too shabby in the first year of the competition.”
Meanwhile in the junior grades the Under 18 Yabbies put on show at Queanbeyan in a 71-14 victory.
The Under 16s followed in the Under 18s’ lead with a 48-nil win.
With two games remaining of the regular season the weekends’ wins put Young among the top of the table and looking strong for semi-finals contention.
