The Cobar Roosters came up against some very determined opposition in the Binnaway Bombshells on Saturday in Round 9 of the Castlereagh Rugby League competition with the visitors rewarded for their more than four hour drive with a close 40-32 win.
The temperature may have only got to a top of 15 degrees on Saturday afternoon at Tom Knight Memorial Oval however as the game commentator, Ben Hewlett, was heard to say, “it was fiery out on the field” as both sides tried to gain the upper hand.
It was a scrappy first half with both teams finding it hard to complete a set due to poor ball handling skills. Numerous penalties for infringements also marred the game.
A couple of mistakes from Cobar early in the match gave Binnaway good field position and Caine Thompson crossed early to take a 4-0 lead.
Jesse Hamilton not long after levelled the scores with a slick try for the Roosters and then, after good lead up work from winger Matt McDougall, Chris Deighton muscled his way over to score next to the posts.
A simple conversion by David Watson put the Roosters ahead 10-4 midway through the first half.
An overlap saw Binnaway’s winger James Power score in the corner and a brilliant sideline conversion from Seb Backhouse levelled the scores at 10-all.
A mistake by the Roosters on the re-start returned possession to Binnaway and they took full advantage with PJ Stanton crossing soon after. Backhouse converted to give the Bombshells a 16-10 lead.
Just before halftime, Jimmy Neyland crossed and the subsequent easy conversion from in front for Robert Childs (who had handed over most of the kicking duties to Watson as he was carrying an injury) tied the game up at 16-all going into the break.
With the tempers of a number of players starting to flare (some of their wrath was levelled at the opposition, some at the game’s officials and others were frustrated with their own mistakes), the half time break was a welcome opportunity for both sides to regroup.
After the restart Anthony Harris crossed for the first of his two second half tries for the Bombshells with team mates Dyllon Tighe and Thompson also recording second half tries.
Backhouse had a very consistent day with the boot adding 10 points to his Binnaway’s team total with six successful conversions.
More scrappy play continued and the Roosters found it hard to string any set play together.
However their hopes were revived after a burst by Ben Simon resulted in a converted try for the Roosters and then Neyland scored his second try for the game in the dying stages of the match to bring the Roosters back into contention.
With just two minutes left on the clock, a series of repeated infringements by a Binnaway player saw him sent from the field and the Roosters had an opportunity to tie up the game. Time however ran out and the Roosters couldn’t rein in the deficit with Binnaway finishing with a tough 40-32 win.
The Roosters are at home again this Saturday to the Gulgong Terriers.
