RUGBY LEAGUE
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THERE was a tight start in the Centennial Coal Cup Charles Stuart university derby on Wednesday night, but by full-time CSU Yellow were comfortable 44-16 winners over their CSU Blue club-mates.
Blue managed to hold the lead for a brief period in the first half before two quick Yellow tries prior to half-time changed momentum at Diggings Oval.
The win consolidates Yellow’s second place in the competition while Blue will still hold down fifth. It means it is a successful season so far for the Mungoes.
Yellow captain Brad Dewar was quick to give praise to his opposing team for both their determination in the match and the improvement they have shown this year.
“Blue’s been surprising a lot of the competition. They started slowly with a few losses, but at this stage of the competition they are the side to beat,” he said.
Dewar said his side lifted for the match and added their season continues to get better with every minute.
“Our discipline was a lot better today than it usually is. The Blue boys started to get a bit frustrated there and gave away a few penalties, giving us some field position and making things easier for us. It gave us the chance to play with the ball a lot more than defend,” he said.
“So far it’s good. It’s been a bit slow for us the past few weeks with uni holidays, but that’s something that you’ve got to deal with every year. It’s coming well at the right end of the season.”
Yellow have just the one loss from their eight games so far and boast the best defensive record in the competition.
Yellow five-eighth Joe Gunn and Blue’s Jordy Ward exchanged tries early in the piece before James Tristram got Yellow out to a 10-6 lead with a try in the left corner.
Blue’s Jared Tyack made a break on his own 20 metre line and had too much pace for his chasers as his side grabbed the lead back at the 27 minute mark, but it didn’t last long.
The score was 22-12 to Yellow at half-time thanks to Dewar and Callum McGregor tries in the space of two minutes. The comeback was sparked at the 34 minute mark by a Dean Hodges intercept.
The Yellow brigade continued their scoring spree after the break when Rob McMahon crashed over from close range just five minutes in.
Winger Matt Howe was given an easy finish on the left wing when the Yellow attack created an overlap and the score went out to 32-12.
After spending a long time camped in their own half, Blue got their only points of the second stanza with 15 to go when Dylan Brown slipped through some soft left-side Yellow defence.
Dewar and McMahon grabbed tries in the final 10 minutes to both push out the lead as well as give themselves a double for the night.
CSU YELLOW 44 (Brad Dewar 2, Rob McMahon 2, Joe Gunn, James Tristram, Callum McGregor, Matt Howe tries; Dean Hodges 6 goals) defeated CSU BLUE 16 (Jordy Ward, Jarad Tyack, Dylan Brown tries; Matt Trainor 2 goals)