RUGBY LEAGUE
ORANGE Hawks broke their 2009 drought when they downed Orange CYMS in their Group 10 local derby yesterday following a spirited late comeback.
Hawks took the game 20-18 after lock Todd Barrow scored in the left corner with three minutes remaining in the match.
It was the end to a solid comeback from Hawks after they had trailed by eight points with 20 minutes to go.
Hawks coach Jaime Kelso was thrilled to taste success after his side lost their opening six games this season.
“I’m dead set stoked. It was a hard game like we expected it,” Kelso smiled.
“In the first half we did everything we wanted to do, except we gave away too many penalties. Then the second half we just dropped the ball.
“We were always dangerous when we got near their line but it was a matter of getting down there and finally we did.”
CYMS player-coach Scott Sullivan lamented his side’s inability to put their opponents to the sword.
“We’re pretty gutted about losing that one, especially to play so lacklustre in the first half and then work our way into a winning position in the second half,” Sullivan said.
“We just have no idea how to finish a game off when we had that eight-point lead and we made some silly plays. The defensive effort just wasn’t there. The will to win wasn’t there, which is surprising. We can get ourselves in a position to win but we just don’t seem to have that killer instinct. We don’t know how to finish teams off, which is a big worry.”
CYMS opened the scoring 11 minutes in when winger Josh Annis-Brown dived over in the left corner.
It was 4-all after 20 minutes when Hawks captain Glen Bunworth crossed after a good offload from replacement Simon O’Brien.
In a see-sawing first half, CYMS took the lead again when second-rower Ben Gosper scored in the corner.
Hawks went into the break with a 10-8 lead thanks to a try from Chris Anau and a conversion from Barrow with four minutes to go.
CYMS put on two tries inside three minutes in the middle of the second half, which gave them an 18-10 lead.
Sandon Gibbs-O’Neil scored the first when he gathered a Sullivan chip kick and ran in under the posts, and just over two minutes later Luke Morris scored after some good passing.
Hawks closed the gap to two when O’Brien managed to pick up a loose ball on the last tackle and run through a gap to score, and Barrow converted.
With just over three minutes to go, CYMS lock Pat Gibson was sin-binned and Hawks received a penalty metres out from the CYMS line.
Hawks took the tap and replacement forward Matt McAnulty lumbered towards the line before offloading to Barrow, who crashed over in the corner.
Kelso is hoping this won’t be Hawks’ only win this season.
“If we could get another couple of wins together, all of a sudden we could sneak into fifth spot,” Kelso said.
“That’d be a bonus if we could. But to get a couple more wins would be great.”
ORANGE HAWKS 20 (Glen Bunworth, Chris Anau, Simon O'Brien, Todd Barrow tries; Barrow 2 goals) def ORANGE CYMS 18 (Josh Annis-Brown, Ben Gosper, Sandon Gibbs-O'Neil, Luke Morris tries; Gibbs-O'Neil goal).
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