Down 14-0 early with the bare minimum 15 players and none of their representative stars on deck, the Orange City Lions had every right to roll over in Saturday’s Blowes Clothing Cup colts local derby against Orange Emus, at Pride Park.
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They didn’t.
Instead they came from behind to lock the clash up at 14-14 by half-time and after the greens scored first in the second period they did so again to draw level at 21-21, where the scoreline ultimately stayed in a thrilling draw.
Lions skipper Tom West actually had a chance to secure an unlikely victory for his side right on full-time too, but his 35-metre penalty goal attempt sailed wide.
Although disappointed he missed his late chance, West said his side will “take that” result considering the circumstances, lauding the character his young Lions’ showed after conceding two early tries.
“I just didn’t hit that kick right. It had the legs, but those things happen, it’s not a loss. Considering we were two tries down early and didn’t have any reserves, we’ll definitely take the draw,” he said, Nick Fisher, Hayden Goodall and Hayden Leopold were all on NSW Country duty.
“I’m pretty happy with that, we knew the Emus boys would start well and they did again in that first 10 minutes so it was a big effort to come back like that.
“We’re still sitting second I think so once we get all our boys back and get back on the training paddock I think we’ll right, I’m looking forward to the last bit of the season.”
Although it wasn’t a win, the result extends Emus’ winless run in colts derbies to seven games, the last time the greens trumped the Lions was a 32-19 victory in round nine of 2015.
Emus skipper Louis Carr knows that, which is partly why he was so disappointed with Saturday’s draw.
Emus were missing NSW Country flanker Sam Greatbatch, but had the run of play for the best part of the clash until discipline let them down in the last 10 minutes.
West’s last-gasp shot was only possible after the greens gave away a penalty and then got marched 10 metres for backchat, bringing the Lions’ skipper into kicking range.
“The most disappointing part is that we gave them that chance to win the game, and even be in it really,” a filthy Carr said.
“We were 14-0 up but our discipline let us down in a big way and that’s really frustrating.”
Another factor frustrating Carr is how much untapped potential he sees in his side, labelling the greens a hope to win their club’s first colts premiership since 2009, if they can get their discipline and commitment off the paddock up to scratch that is.
“We can win this premiership, I know we can and I think everyone else in this side does too,” Carr fired, his side sits third on the ladder.
“We showed that when we beat (competition leaders) Dubbo Kangaroos last weekend. That was our best defensive effort all year and everything really came together.
“The problem is the fact we’re not training the way we should be. When we’re only getting eight, nine, 10 guys to training and while we are drumming up enough numbers for games, we can’t really expect to go out and beat the best sides, even with how much ability we’ve got.
“If we can fix that up, we can win this premiership.”
As West said, Emus started the much better side, and weight of possession translated into first points when No.8 Brock Campbell waltzed through the Lions’ line to score in the seventh minute.
He converted, giving his side an early 7-0 lead, which became 14-0 after he converted Hayden Whiteman’s try out wide just five minutes later.
The Lions hit back virtually straight away though, when big Ethan Bereyne barged his way over. West nailed the kick, cutting the deficit to a converted try.
The home side locked the clash up four minutes from half-time, Jack Parr found space through the middle of the field to score, West once again making no mistake with the kick.
Emus only needed five minutes to push back ahead after half-time, Carr skipping around mid-field before slicing through half a gap and going 40 metres untouched to score.
Campbell once again nailed the conversion and with just 25 minutes to go, the greens looked capable of blowing the derby out.
They didn’t, in fact, Orange City began winning the upper hand as Emus began giving away penalties.
Lions’ fullback Darcy Holmes – who was outstanding throughout – burrowed his way over from a pick and drive in the 42nd minute, after Orange City’s pack monstered the greens to win a scrum against the feed.
West’s conversion once again locked the scores up, at 21-21.
To be completely fair, considering the weight of possession and territory the Lions had in the last 15 minutes, there’d be plenty who’d argue they should have scored again, but the greens defended stoically and held the Lions out.
They had to do so a number of times as well, Orange City won two more tightheads on Emus’ line and looked all but certain to score if not for Emus’ desperation.
Emus finally won possession back in the dying stages, mounting a bid to march upfield and try to seal the win, but were penalised about 45 out, and that was compounded with another penalty and a free 10 metres for the Lions after some backchat.
Sadly for his Lions, West missed right.
- ORANGE CITY LIONS 21 (Ethan Bereyne, Jack Parr, Darcy Holmes tries; Tom West 3 conversions) drew with ORANGE EMUS 21 (Brock Campbell, Hayden Whiteman, Louis Carr tries; Campbell 3 conversions)
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
