July 7, 2014
A seriously under-strength Murgon Mustangs took on a Sunshine Coast 2nd Division rep side in a “friendly” at Murgon Sportsground on Saturday afternoon.
But the result was anything but friendly for Murgon fans. The Falcons outgunned the young Mustangs, many of whom were fresh from U18s.
The Coast opened the scoring after three minutes and then scored at three-minute intervals for the first 20 minutes.
At the half-way point in the first half, the Falcons led 32-0 after tries to Adam Grice, Nathan Robards (2), Mark Cross, Troy Carlson and Daniel Grice. Adam Thompson landed four conversions.
But to Murgon’s credit, their defence rallied at this point holding the Falcons out for the next 12 minutes.
Robards then scored his third and Adam Grice his second. Thompson kicked both, and the Sunshine Coast went into the break up 42-0.
The second half began in similar fashion to the first, with quick tries to Mitch Pardon and Daniel Grice.
With 30 minutes to go, the home crowd got excited when the Mustangs’ Lehman Brunjes went for an intercept with the paddock wide open in front of him; but unfortunately the ball didn’t come to hand cleanly.
The Falcons’ relentless attack then continued with a converted try by Shannon Lewis taking the scoreboard to a dispiriting 58-0.
But then Mitchell McDonald saved Murgon pride by crossing the line, and Barwoo Fisher’s kick was on target, putting the Mustangs’ first points on the board.
Unfortunately, there was no more joy for the home side, with five more Falcons’ tries before full-time: Shannon Lewis, Mitch Pardon (after an intercept), Troy Carlson (2) and Nick Gibbs. Adam Thompson finished with 11 goals.
The final score was 86-6.
Murgons’ U18 players will have learned a lot from the experience of playing against a bigger, quicker side and the result shouldn’t be taken as a guide to the Mustangs’ performance in upcoming South Burnett games.
