The Cobar Roosters made a lacklustre start to their Christie and Hood Castlereagh Rugby League Round 10 First Grade game against the Coolah Roos on Saturday at Tom Knight Memorial Oval and that was reflected in the final score, 36-20 in favour of the visitors.
The Roosters however did find some of their lost mojo and midway through the first half they bounced back to put on a great performance against the unbeaten Roos and it wasn’t until the final stages of the match that the outcome was decided.
From the outset, the match between last season’s two grand final teams was a tough, physical affair featuring plenty of big hits from both sides.
The Roos got off the mark quickly and recorded early back-to-back tries to take a 10-0 lead and it looked like they would easily keep their unbeaten run this season in tact.
The Roosters however rallied and took control of the match with Thomas Plater crossing twice for Cobar and Tim Hillam also scored for the Roosters.
Plater converted two of the three and Cobar went to the sheds at half time with a 16-10 lead.
After the break, the shock of trailing the 5th placed team in the competition started to wear off and the Roos regathered to record three successive tries and regain the upper hand at 24-16.
After dropping their heads (and the ball a few times), the Roosters rallied after they received a penalty 10m out from the try line.
Sione Fakahua sent the ball wide and winger Ryan Urquhart tip-toed down the sideline to score next to the corner post and put the Roosters back into the match and we had a real ball game at 20-24.
Inspired by their hard running captain/coach Chance Burgess, the Roos recorded three tries in the final seven minutes of the match to eventually claim a 36-20 win.
The Roosters were well served by big forward Gerald Mackay who was explosive in attack and hard-hitting in defence, along with relentless defenders Tadgh McMullen and Kai Taylor and Jack Brown was also outstanding playing at fullback.
Plater shared in the Umpire’s Best & Fairest points along with Burgess and Roos’ second-rower Tyler Austin.
