'It's one to remember': Orange Hawks topple Oberon in freezing conditions

ORANGE Hawks’ Group 10 win over Oberon on Saturday will go down as a special one, but not just for the result.

There was still snow on the field when the two sides clashed in their premier league match in Oberon.

The visitors handled the conditions well to record a 24-10 victory.

Hawks co-coach Brock McGarity was still laughing at the unusual situation yesterday.

“It’s one to remember,” he said.

“When we got there they just had a lawnmower out and they were mowing the lines in through the snow.

“The boys got a few photos. There was probably an inch of snow over the field when we got there.

“It ended up alright.”

The league tag and under 18s games were abandoned due to the ice and snow on the field, however the first division and premier league matches went ahead.

Conditions were difficult with some large puddles forming as the snow melted, however McGarity was impressed with the quality of his premier league team’s performance.

“Surprisingly, it was pretty good,” he said.

“The ball control and ball handling was really good. It was probably better than in the dry, so maybe they were concentrating more.

“We scored the opening two tries. It was one of those games where the team that had field position usually scored.”

After scoring the first two tries, Hawks were forced to defend for five consecutive sets on their own line.

They were able to hold Oberon out until the sixth set when the Tigers scored off a grubber kick.

Still, Hawks held a 12-6 lead at half-time and two more tries in the second period allowed them to take much-needed competition points.

“Hopefully we haven’t left our run too late,” McGarity said of his team’s chances of making the top five and finals.

“I’ve checked it out and I think we can only afford to drop one game in the last five. Lithgow at Lithgow will be the hardest, and we’ve got the two Bathurst sides and we’ve beaten them before, so hopefully we can do that again.”

In the next round Hawks host Mudgee.

For now, Hawks are enjoying their memorable win over Oberon.

“All the boys were pretty happy. There was good footy played considering the conditions,” McGarity said.

ORANGE HAWKS 24 (Lachlan Harris, Mitch Davis, Jared Brodrick, Kurt McNamara tries; Cody Robbins 4 goals) def OBERON 8 (Dallas Booth, Nathan Booth tries).