It's taken just two rounds for the Boorowa Rovers to make their presence felt in the 2016 George Tooke Shield with a stunning 38-14 win over the Gunning Roos at the Boorowa Showground last Saturday.
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In front of one the biggest crowds at a Rovers game in recent seasons, the youthful Boorowa outfit outgunned the Roos with a dominant display by their pack and some slick work by their backs.
From the outset, Boorowa looked determined to make amends for their loss against Crookwell. However disaster struck after just five minutes when Rovers young gun Joe O'Connor suffered a serious knee injury requiring the local paramedics to attend delaying the game by almost half an hour. Fortunately Joe is ok but could be on the sideline for an extended period.
After the resumption, Boorowa dominated field position with some solid defence from the locals not allowing the Roos to gain any momentum. The pressure mounted saw the Roos make some crucial errors.
It was fifteen minutes and some relentless attack from the Rovers before the probing Jack Fahey found his way to the line for the second time in two weeks. Mick Hinds converted for a 6-0 lead.
Boorowa continued to put pressure on the Ross and after 28 minutes the lead was extended when Murray Armour went in after some slick ball movement. A short time later halfback Mick Hinds scored a good try taking the score to 14-0 at the break.
Shortly after halftime, Willis Arber did further damage to the Roos when he crossed for the first of two tries for the afternoon. Hinds converted from wide out and the Rovers went out to a 20-0 lead.
Coach Stuart Gay began to look more relaxed when Matt Black went in and with 24 minutes left it appeared Boorowa was almost home with a 26-0 lead. However Gunning weren't quiet ready to throw in the towel and scored a relatively soft try with 20 minutes to go to make it 26-4.
Two more tries to Gunning in the next few minutes made the score 26-14 and all of a sudden the Boorowa supporters became nervous after the previous weeks fade out. However the local side regained composure when Willis Arber crossed for his second try and with Mick Hinds converted taking the score to 32-14 and it became a bridge too far for the Roos.
Mitch Clarke put the icing on the cake for the locals with a converted try for the eventual score line of 38-14 to the Rovers.
The three points were shared by Willis Arber and Matt Batt who were outstanding amongst a team of stars whilst Mick Hinds picked up the one point. The Fabstock player of the week was Matt Black who was brilliant, particularly in attack having the Roos forwards back peddling all day.
There wasn't a poor player for the Rovers with the forward pack putting in a sensational display. Jack Fahey was scheming and probing all game, whilst the big boppers, Willis Arber Joe Banks, Matt Black, and Matt Batt took the ball up willingly for the full match.
In the backs, Mick Hinds directed the traffic to perfection whilst Justin Corkery had an impressive game at five eighth.
Murray Armour used his boot effectively to gain some good field position whilst Trent Crawford looked at home in the fullback position with some great kick return runs with some valuable metres gained. Blake Anderson was also impressive on the wing. Every player contributed to the win and with more performances like this one, there will be good times ahead for this young team.
Coach Stuart Gay commented that Tuesday training this week will be more enjoyable than the last but he is well aware that the road ahead is a long. Apart from the nasty injury to Joe, the rest of the team came through relatively unscathed although at Sunday's recovery, there were some very sore bodies.
In other matches last weekend, the Crookwell Green Devils show their first up win was not flash in the pan by defeating Braidwood 26-16. Harden Hawks started their campaign with a 36-22 win over North Canberra whilst in the remaining game Bungendore Tigers beat ADFA 32-12.
The Boomanulla Raiders had the bye.
This week sees Round three take place over the Anzac weekend. On Friday night the Undefeated Crookwell take on ADFA at Crookwell. On Saturday, Bungendore host Boomanulla and Braidwood play host to the Gunning Roos still searching for that first up win.
North Canberra Tigers have the weekend off.
The match of the round will be the local derby when the Boorowa Rovers host the Harden Hawks at the Boorowa Showground on Saturday at 2.30 pm.
With the Harden side coming off a win in their first start and the Rovers scoring their first win, this game promises to be one of the most contested local derby's in years between these old foes. With the junior league on as well it will be a massive day of Rugby league and one not to be missed.
Don't forget the jackpot joker draw at the home of the Rovers, the Courthouse Hotel, on Friday night with over $1100 to be won.
After Saturday's game, join all the post match celebrations at the Courthouse until the late hours.
Finally, the Boorowa Rovers players, committee and supporters pay our respects to the Ex-service men and women and all of our current armed forces personnel who will be in our hearts this Anzac Day on Monday.
Lest we forget.
-Sandboy