The Boggabri Kangaroos snapped a two-game losing streak with a memorable come-from-behind 24-20 victory at Jubilee Oval last Saturday, to inflict the Gunnedah Bulldogs’ first defeat of the Group 4 rugby league season.
Having recorded four wins and one draw, the Bulldogs appeared destined to remain unbeaten as they led 20-0 after 51 minutes, only for their opponents to score 24 unanswered points in a mere 21 minutes.
Both teams scored four tries, with Gunnedah landing only two conversions before all of Boggabri’s tries were converted.
Having been equal-first with Werris Creek on the points table, Gunnedah fell to outright second while Boggabri moved from outright fifth to equal-fourth.
The display from both teams in the first half was well below first grade standard, with the Kangaroos falling behind 16-0 and staring down the barrel of three straight defeats after losses by 26 and 34 points on May 17 and 25 respectively.
Gunnedah scored three tries in the first half, before McKye Tucknott scored the next four-pointer a little over 10 minutes into the second half.
A needless penalty against the Bulldogs in the next few minutes led to Andrew Wallace opening Boggabri’s account to reduce the margin to 14 points.
The pendulum continued to turn Boggabri’s way as a try each to Isaiah Adams and Tevita Peceli in quick succession slashed the margin to a mere two points with about 13 minutes remaining.
The closeness in the scores kept the game interesting, although the mistake rate was still high.
Gunnedah had a couple of chances to extend its lead as Boggabri’s defence was under pressure, but the visiting team could not produce another try.
With the Kangaroos back on the attack, they grabbed the lead in the 76th minute when Adams charged onto a grubber-kick from Wallace and dived over the tryline to the delight of the crowd.
The Bulldogs again had the chance to push for a try, but again they could not breach Boggabri’s defence.
Gunnedah coach Sean Hayne was critical of his team’s showing throughout the full 80 minutes, not merely the period in the second half when Gunnedah conceded 24 unanswered points.
“We didn’t play well for the entire game,” he said.
“We didn’t complete sets, and we didn’t throw anything at them.”
Hayne said there were far too many errors in attack and defence, as the Bulldogs turned the ball over cheaply and fell off tackles.
“Our effort wasn’t where it should’ve been,” he said.
Boggabri coach Shane Rampling said although the first half was well below his expectations, he was proud of the way his players hung in there and fought all the way to the final whistle.
“It was a tale of two halves, really,” he said.
Rampling said he thought the Kangaroos had left themselves “too much to do” when the score was 20-0, but that he “knew the boys had it in them to get the win”.
“The last 25 minutes of that game was the Boggi of last year. It was the best we’ve played all year,” he said.
The home side also prevailed in the reserve grade fixture, having scored four tries to one in the 20-6 result.
The competition has a bye this weekend.
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