July 30, 2013
Unfortunately the fairytale finish that would have sealed the Blackbutt Yarraman Timbertowners’ centenary day was not to be … but that didn’t stop Blackbutt from celebrating their 100 years with enthusiasm on Saturday.
A good crowd packed into the Blackbutt Oval to watch the local team take on the Nanango Stags (who will be celebrating their centenary this Saturday) in the South Burnett A Grade rugby league competition.
There were many visitors, including former players who returned to attend the Centenary Dinner which was held on Saturday night at the Blackbutt Community Hall.
Amongst the interested spectators was QRL chief executive officer Rob Moore.
On the field, Blackbutt and Nanango were well-matched and put on an entertaining display for fans.
The in-form Stags faced a Blackbutt side obviously fired up by the home crowd and the Centenary celebration.
Blackbutt scored first (Blake Harvey) but both sides then swapped tries … Nanango (Jayden Jarvis and Pat McCallum) and Blackbutt (Ashley Smallwood and Joel Smallwood).
At the midway point of the first half, Blackbutt were leading 16-10 and looking confident.
They looked set to draw even further ahead a few minutes later but lost the ball over the line thanks to a desperate Nanango tackle.
The Stags then hit back with two tries in three minutes (Pat McCallum and Ben Brown) to lead 22-16, before Michael “Freddy” Davies brought the score back locked 22-all with a try to the Timbertowners in the corner.
That looked like it would be the half-time score, but with just minutes to go, Blackbutt gave away a penalty for a dangerous tackle right in front of the posts.
BJ Simpson obliged for the Stags and Nanango went into the break leading 24-22.
This kick would prove costly to the Timbertowners later on.
When play resumed, Nanango were fired up and scored three tries in six minutes (a double to Pat McCallum, and Ben Brown scored his second).
The Stags’ lead had blown out to 38-22 when Clinton Harvey scored against the run of play. Ashley Smallwood’s conversion narrowed the margin to 38-28 and Blackbutt were back in the game.
With Blackbutt players yelling “100 years! 100 years!”, Smallwood scored himself two minutes later, but failed to convert his own try.
The score was now Nanango 38, Blackbutt 32.
For the next seven minutes, neither side could make headway with Blackbutt trying to break through the Stags’ defence.
Matt Davis finally managed to do just that for Blackbutt but the difficult conversion attempt was again unsuccessful.
Blackbutt was now just two points behind and had their tails up.
Four minutes later, they were just short of the line and then held-up before Nanango earned a relieving penalty.
A dropped ball after a scrum win in the dying seconds sealed Nanango’s victory.
The final score was Nanango 38, Blackbutt 36.
The Timbertowners had their chances in the last 10 minutes but were left to rue the penalty given away in the first half.
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Other Rugby League Results
U12 – Kingaroy 32 Murgon 18 (at Kingaroy)
U12 – Blackbutt 16 Wondai 31 (at Blackbutt)
U14 – Kingaroy 20 Murgon 42 (at Kingaroy)
U16 – Kingaroy 40 Murgon 42 (at Kingaroy)
U18 – Eastern Suburbs 30 Murgon 12 (at Bundaberg)
