Bangalow Rugby Club

Game 2 and the mighty 8’s met the Wollongbar ankle biters on home turf in front of a huge and vocal crowd.

The game opened with a quick try to the visitors but the Mighty 8’s hit back and the game see sawed till half time.

Needing 2 tries in the second half to level the score, the Mighty 8’s ran the ball out to the wing and to the crowds delight, Ben and Will combined for a top try in the corner.

Young Zahi was not to be left out of the scoring feast and soon crossed for his second try of the season.

Joined by new players , not yet under contract to the Melb Strom, Keelin and Finn joined in running the ball hard at the line hard and making tags like players years older.

Callum held the scrums steady as the Wollongbar ankle biters tried to twist and turn the forward pack.

The mighty hooker, Angus had so many players to select any time he got the ball that he was compared, by some on the sideline, to a young Benji Marshall. A slight twist of hand and the pressure was right back on.

The game was played in a great sprit and the crowd were treated to yet another fantastic game that will be remembered.

Our thanks again to the Referee Simon Balcon. It is a tough job to ref when you know the players as well as Simon does and despite the cries from Wollongbar, Simon kept the game free flowing and entertaining.

Well done boys and don’t forget training at 4.15 pm Tuesday.

Paul De Fina

Coach

In spite of a spirited display, the under 12’s were defeated by a more experienced WAR Black team last Friday evening at Bangalow.

The first half saw Wollongbar build a commanding lead. In the second half, captain Savannah’s Bangalow team showed they had plenty of determination with vigorous tackling from everyone. Finn McElroy’s 40 meter try was well set up by several players.

Our team, coaches and supporters can be proud of this effort and we will take good experience from the encounter.

The under 14s faced a potential challenge from a well drilled Casino side. Our team had been hit by injuries and illness: our captain Davis Jensen out for a month or more with a broken arm sustained playing rep rugby for Far North Coast, key forwards Jake Brumley and Christian Monks out with minor injuries, and lightning fast winger Lewis Erskine down with the flu. On top of that, three other players, Matt Phillips, Doug Jarvis and Angus Page had played three games of rugby league during the day. So we knew we would have to dig deep to win, and even deeper to score four tries for a bonus point.

The game proved to be a tough encounter as we had expected, with Casino strong in the forwards in both the set pieces and the rucks and mauls. But Bangalow kept going forward, creating an opportunity for an excellent try in the first half to outside centre Rory Wilson. The passion showed by both sides boiled over briefly and a punch was thrown by a Casino player and returned by a fired up Jaiden Jones. As required by the rules, the referee automatically red carded both players, even though it was only a minor incident, so both teams were down to 14 players for the second half.

Bangalow’s relentless pressure started to take its toll on a tiring Casino side. In particular, Brodie ‘Snowplough’ Snow made repeated powerful hit ups and several devastating runs up the middle. Tries followed to Carl Karlholm and Justice Hamnett. Brodie was unlucky to have the ball jolted from his hands twice, once when he was over the line. By the end Bangalow was dominant but the final whistle blew before we could score the bonus point try. With one conversion from Doug Jarvis the score line was Bangalow 17, Casino nil.