A five try burst in the space of less than 15 minutes helped the Cobar Roosters to a
42-18 win over the Binnaway Bombshells in their Round 7 Christie & Hood Castlereagh Rugby League First Grade game on Saturday.
It was the club’s second win of the day in their Indigenous Round at Tom Knight Memorial Oval with the Roosterettes also claiming a 26-4 victory in the Ladies League Tag match.
It took a while for both sides to settle into their playing rhythms in Saturday’s First Grade game and the sin-binning of a player from each team in the first half made it difficult for both teams to execute their usual game plans.
The Roosters made a number of early ball handling mistakes through rushed play but despite squandering a number of try scoring opportunities, they scored first points following a breakaway run by Centre Jack Brown in his familiar territory on the right wing.
Brown was determinedly chased by two Binnaway defenders but managed to offload an inside pass to Lochlan Ford in support who finished off the play with a try next to the posts.
An easy first conversion for captain/coach Thomas Plater gave Cobar a 6-0 lead.
Cobar went close to scoring again 10 minutes later, but the try was disallowed and the referee sent Brown to the sinbin for dissent.
With the Roosters now a player short, Binnaway made the most of the overlap and found a gap on the vacant right wing to score.
With just under 10 minutes left in the first half, Ben Griffiths broke the line and gained some ground for Cobar before passing off to Tadgh McMullen who tip-toed down the left wing to dive over to score.
Plater’s conversion attempt fell short.
Two minutes later Binnaway pushed over for a converted try (seconds before Brown returned to the field) to level the scores at 10-all.
The score was still 10-all going into the half time break.
It was the second half where all the action took place. Less than a minute from the re-start Tim Hillam broke away to score under the posts and Plater’s conversion put Cobar ahead 16-10.
Three minutes later Binnaway’s fullback Eddie Kuras was sent for his second 10 minute stint in the sinbin and the Roosters sprang into action. They made the most of the player overlap to score four rapid-fire tries before the Bombshells’ fullback returned to the filed.
Tyler Coughlan pushed through to score under the posts and then Hillam made another break with Plater in support.
Plater passed back to Hillam who dived over for his second try (in the space of five minutes) to push Cobar’s lead out to 26-10.
Griffiths then outran his defender to score on the wing and extend Cobar’s margin to 30-10 and shortly after Ford scored his second try of the match when he scooted through the lacklustre Binnaway defence to score under the posts.
Plater’s conversion took the score to 36-10.
Binnaway’s sin-binned fullback then returned to the field which changed the status quo of the game. The Bombshells’ defence regrouped and tightened up to ensure no tries were scored for the next 10 minutes.
Kuras’ return also strengthened their attack and it was Binnaway who scored next through persistence and patience on the line.
The unconverted try brought the margin back to 22 points, 36-14.
Binnaway’s mistake from the re-start kick gifted the Roosters the ball 10 metres out from the try line. Controlled and confident play by the Roosters resulted in Nathan McAndrew crossing to score.
Plater’s fifth successful conversion of the match extended Cobar’s big lead to 42-14 and a late consolation try for Binnaway brought the final margin to 42-18.
