June 2, 2013
After giving Cherbourg a run for their money last weekend, the Blackbutt Timbertowners turned it on against Wondai in their A Grade rugby league match at Nanango on Saturday.
Wondai have only lost one game so far this season – a tight match against Cherbourg in Round 4 – so they would have been expected to romp easily through the Timbertowners who have won just one game.
But Blackbutt took the game to Wondai in the first half and were actually ahead on the scoreboard at half-time.
Dylan Gilliland opened the scoring for the Wolves in the first five minutes, and Andrew Hewitt converted (Hewitt finished the game with four conversions).
Eight minutes later, Blackbutt were in again, with Hewitt grabbing and grounding the ball over the line after a Wondai defender stood back to shepherd a Timbertowners’ kick, thinking it was going dead.
Suddenly it was 12-0 halfway through the first half, and the Wolves hadn’t looked like scoring.
But Wondai aren’t joint competition leaders for nothing. In the next three minutes, they scored twice – to Luke Hedges and Ryan Stower. Danny Alberts’ conversions brought the score even, 12-all.
However, the Timbertowners didn’t look fazed with Blake Harvey and Ashley Smallwood taking them back into the lead, 24-12, with nine minutes to the break.
But in the last five minutes, Blackbutt let the Wolves in twice; first with Jameel Sullivan forcing his way under the posts, and then Luke Hedges skipping away from a missed tackle.
Danny Alberts’ kick after the siren was waved away, which meant the half-time score was Blackbutt 24, Wondai 22.
Sadly that was the last points the Timbertowners would put on the board on Saturday, but they were right in the game to almost the midway mark of a fiery second half.
After the break, Josh Alberts and Shane Cliff put on two quick tries for Wondai but Blackbutt held the Wolves out for the next 10 minutes, and went close to scoring twice themselves.
But two on-field flare-ups seemed to sting the Wolves into action. In the last 20 minutes of the match, Brenton List, Josh Alberts, Shane Cliff, Michael Murray and Luke Hedges all scored for Wondai. And the Wolves were still attacking after the full-time siren sounded.
The final score – Wondai 62, Blackbutt 24 – didn’t reflect the intensity of three-quarters of a closely fought and entertaining game.
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The second A Grade game on Saturday was between the home side, the Nanango Stags, and the Cherbourg Hornets – who have not lost a game for five rounds (plus a President’s Cup match).
The game began after a minute’s silence for Hornets’ stalwart, Cherbourg elder Sam Murray Snr who died last week.
The Hornets opened the scoring with a try to Nathan Gadd which Fred Aubrey converted.
The Stags held their own for the first 20 minutes, not letting Cherbourg complete their six and keeping pressure on the joint competition leaders.
When Greg Houghton – a newcomer to the Nanango team – scored after a scrum win, and Brett Simpson converted, the scores were level at 6-all.
But Cherbourg quickly showed their class, gaining the upper hand at the mid-way mark of the first half and aided by a Stags’ player being sin-binned for 10 minutes.
The half-time score was Cherbourg 36, Nanango 6.
Tries were notched up by Nathan Gadd (his second), Eddie Aubrey, Ivan Harrison and Farron Aubrey (2).
After the break, Cherbourg resumed as before with tries to Fred Aubrey and Farron Aubrey (his third), before Jayden Jarvis restored some Stags’ pride with 22 minutes left on the clock.
Cherbourg’s Alexander Speedy quickly replied but Nanango weren’t finished …
The Stags made several strong attacks on the Cherbourg line over the next 15 minutes – aided by possession from penalties – but couldn’t convert this pressure into points until Robert Ryan crossed the line with four minutes left on the clock.
Nanango’s defence held for the rest of the match, withstanding a Hornets’ attack in the dying seconds.
The full-time score was Cherbourg 54, Nanango 16. Fred Aubrey finished with nine goals for Cherbourg.
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In junior rugby league, President’s Cup games were played in Mundubbera:
- U12 Kingaroy 12 defeated Cherbourg 4
- U14 Murgon 48 defeated Central Burnett 10
