FOUR tries in a 14-minute stretch either side of half-time has catapulted the Western Rams under-16s into the final of the 2016 AAMI Country Championships.

The Rams, featuring Bloomfield  Tigers gun Zac Cook and Orange CYMS quintet Lincoln Monk, Hudson Spice, Josh Board, Tyrone Harrison and Nathan Swain, beat East Coast Dolphins 28-8 at Dubbo’s Caltex Park on Saturday, although the 20-point margin was flattering in the overall context of the game.

“That was a lot tougher than it looked,” coach Jamie Szczerbanik said.

“We knew what to expect from the Dolphins, we had studied them a bit and they pushed us. It was just some flashes of brilliance that opened the game up.

“Those tries really got us on the front foot and dented their confidence and we built on that.”

The first two of those flashes came from Narromine Jets centre Zarrin Galea, who crossed for the side’s first two tries after Kempsey-based back-rower Kevin Kennedy had given the visitors an early 4-0 lead. 

In the 22nd minute Galea anticipated a long pass and took an intercept to race away 90 metres and score under the posts, and just prior to the half-time break he soared above his rivals to take a bomb and touch down adjacent to the uprights.

That gave Western a 12-4 lead at the break, and they extended it soon after play resumed when Coonabarabran’s Jack Isedale scored out wide.

Dubbo St John’s five-eighth Matt Burton nailed the conversion from the sideline and shortly afterwards he banged over his fourth goal of the day after clubmate Paddy Haycock scored to make the score 24-4.

Port Macquarie’s Nathan Phillips scored with 14 minutes to go to give his side a sniff of victory but that was dashed when Blayney’s Joey Hobby sealed the win with a try of his own four minutes from full-time.

Burton was a standout for the Rams, controlling play from the halves, while Red Bend prop Matt Nicholson and Orange CYMS back-rower Tyrone Harrison were strong through the centre of the field.

Western will now face the Greater Northern Tigers in next weekend’s decider at Tamworth, who claimed a come-from-behind 28-24 win over Bidgee Bulls in the second semi-final..

“It’s a good reward for these boys, and the thing is they have come together great as a Western Rams team,” Szczerbanik said.

“We broke down any divide early, they’re not players for Orange CYMS or St Johns, they are Western and they are playing like that.”

n WESTERN RAMS 28 (Zarrin Galea 2, Jack Isedale, Paddy Haycock, Joey Hobby tries; Matt Burton 4 goals) def EAST COAST DOLPHINS 8 (Kevin Kennedy, Nathan Phillips tries)