June 29, 2014
Cherbourg remains undefeated in the 2014 South Burnett rugby league competition following the top-of-the-table clash with Wondai on Saturday.
The Wolves had chalked up five wins in a row but their streak came to an end before their home crowd in a tough encounter with the Hornets in which the final scoreline, 22-48, didn’t truly reflect the closeness of the play.
The game started evenly with neither side able to make headway.
Alex “Bunyip” Speedy put on the first points for the Hornets after 30 minutes, as a light shower drifted across the ground.
Carl Aubrey followed a few minutes later but, unusually, Fred Aubrey missed both conversions, leaving Cherbourg ahead 8-0.
Wondai captain Shane Cliff then replied with a try of his own in the corner. The Wolves’ star kicker, Rhys Weber, also missed the difficult conversion.
With 15 minutes left in the half, Fred Aubrey took the ball and went over the line under the posts, this time ensuring an easy goal which he duly put away.
Nathan Gadd and Fred Aubrey scored again for the Hornets before the break, while Wondai’s Luke Tilney made sure the Wolves were still in the game. At half-time, the Hornets led 24-10.
Play had barely resumed when Cherbourg were in again. Nigel Williams made a strong run upfield from the kick-off and offloaded to Speedy to score his second for the day.
Wondai then rallied, and with a bit of possession started looking more dangerous near the Hornets’ line. This pressure was turned into points when Rory Mackenzie crossed.
But five minutes later, Carl Aubrey notched up his second try for the day for the Hornets.
Wondai again pressured the Cherbourg line, almost crossing twice but with no reward this time.
Nigel Williams then put on a try for himself before play settled with neither side dominant for more than 10 minutes.
With nine minutes left, Wondai’s Luke Hedges managed to break through the Cherbourg defence. Weber’s kick was on target, taking the score to 22-42.
But Cherbourg weren’t finished yet, with Nathan Gadd scoring their final (and his second) try for the day.
Fred Aubrey finished with six goals, and Rhys Weber with three.
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The Murgon A Grade side will be hosting a Sunshine Coast 2nd Division representative team at the Murgon Showgrounds on Saturday (July 5).
An U18 match is expected to played as a curtainraiser at 1:30pm with the main game kicking off at 3:00pm.
UPDATE July 2: The U18s match has been cancelled but the main game will still go ahead at 3:00pm
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