Injuries to a number of key players did not help the Young Yabbies Rugby Union side when they took on the Goulburn ‘Dirty Reds’ at Goulburn last Saturday, going down 54-0.
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With a starting number of 20 players for two grades the loss of halfback Mathieu Maynard after injuring his shoulder in second grade was a major blow requiring a re- shuffle of the back line.
Then Jesh Smith (leg), Jack Everdell (leg), Aaron Ellis (face) and Ethan Richens (concussion) were all forced from the field reducing the side to 14 players for the final quarter of the game.
Young started strongly with solid forward play and good lines being run by the backs to have the Reds desperately defending their goal line.
A dropped pass was snapped up by the Goulburn side and against the run of play they outpaced the cover defence to score out wide.
For the next 15 minutes the game moved from one end to the other as both teams tried to gain the upper hand.
However, it was the Reds who finally won the battle to run in three more tries against the gallant Yabbies side before halftime.
To Young’s credit no heads were down and a commitment to each other at halftime saw them come out a really apply early pressure on the opposition early.
The forwards, as a group, were clearly on top and on their day can mix it with any pack in the competition.
A disallowed try to prop Hagon Williams was the catalyst for Goulburn as they started to spin the ball wide to use their pacey back line to get outside the Yabbies defence as they had not been able to go through them.
They piled on four second half tries to take control of the match.
Not finished yet the local side, down to 14 players, applied one last push on the Goulburn line only to be denied a second time when a Hamish Kaveney try was disallowed for not releasing.
Publicity Officer, Cec Finley commented how proud he is of this core group of young men, who turn out every week and play their hearts out.
They are a credit not only to the Yabbies club but to the town of Young and more importantly to themselves.
So many good performances in a beaten side that every player deserved points but special mention must go to under 18’s player Dan Parker who played two strong games.
Best and fairest were Charlie Bryant 3, Dan Parker 2 and Hamish Kaveney 1 point.
Player’s player was Harry Warrick.
This weekend the Young Yabbies Rugby Union side will travel to the Australian Capital Territory to take on the Uni Norths Owls.
Seconds do what the firsts can’t
In a strong performance the Young Yabbies Rugby Union second grade side defeated the Goulburn Rugby Union club 24-17 in Goulburn last Saturday.
Early dominance by the forward pack paved the way for the Yabbies second win in as many weeks over a good Goulburn side who are vying for semi final’s contention.
With Goulburn scrambling to hold the Young pack at bay, they gave up a number of penalties at the breakdown resulting in a yellow card for repeated infringements.
With a Red’s player in the sin bin, the local side took full advantage as prop forward Hagon Williams crashed over for the first try of the match.
Young continued to pile on the pressure and were unlucky not to score following good runs by fullback Curtis Targett and centre Harry Warrick.
Back to full strength Goulburn attacked the Young line but great goal line defence kept them at bay.
On the attack again, Young scored again when other prop forward, Jesh Smith crossed and the Yabbies held a 14-0 half time lead.
Goulburn managed to score first in the second half when a loose pass saw them scoop up the ball and run in a converted try.
This good work was quickly undone when they conceded a penalty that Pete Maher guided between the posts.
As halfback Mathieu Maynard was forced from the field Goulburn were able to take advantage of the unsettled Yabbies side and score out wide narrowing the lead to just five points.
Under pressure from the Young forward pack, the Red’s attempted a clearing kick that bounced awkwardly for Michael Stallard to gather and outpace the cover to score.
A late try Goulburn saw the final score at 24-17.
(H Williams, J Smith and M Stallard tries, P Maher 3 conv, 1 penalty goal)
Best and fairest went to Harry Warrick 3, Zac Williams 2 and Jamie Thornberry 1 point.
Player’s player was Dan Parker.
This weekend Young Yabbies Rugby Union travel to the Australian Capital Territory to take on the Uni North owls.
