Standout displays from Sofie Casson and Carly Hatch sparked a comfortable 34-10 victory for the North Tamworth Bears against the Gunnedah Bulldogs in last Sunday’s Group 4 leaguetag clash at Jack Woolaston Oval.
Casson bagged a hat-trick of tries while Hatch notched a double, as the hosts tallied seven tries to two.
Gunnedah remained fifth in the seven-team competition while it was the top-placed Norths’ sixth win from as many fixtures.
After winning their previous two matches against the bottom two teams, the Bulldogs faced a steep rise in class which was evident as the Bears outfit was too good.
In the attack department, Gunnedah sometimes ran sideways or too slowly while in the defence department, Gunnedah missed too many tags.
The Bulldogs were competitive in patches and were within striking distance for a little while, but a couple of costly mistakes in the lead-up to half-time enabled the Bears to maintain control.
Gunnedah’s team was understrength as Deneka Jones was sidelined, while Jacey Ross and Claire Jones were already on the injured list.
Casson scored the first two tries in the home side’s first two sets to set up a 10-0 lead in the fifth minute. She threw a dummy, sliced through and scampered away for the first try, before backing up in support to score the next four-pointer.
A heavily one-sided match looked possible when Hatch scored about five minutes later, but some mistakes from the Bears enabled the Bulldogs to reduce the margin to just four points.
Gunnedah’s Tara Wilkinson-Ryan scored successive tries, with the first one from close range and the second one as she backed up a break from Nautica Eather.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they continued an exasperating habit of being penalised for dissent. This gifted the Bears the chance to attack in the final minute of the first half, with clever work from Casson paving the way for a converted try to Sarah Gill.
The Bulldogs were still in the game at 20-10 down as they received the first two penalties of the second half, but they failed to capitalise.
A brilliant individual try to Casson stretched the margin to 14 points, before Bears skipper Dhalara Knox ran onto a well-timed pass and found open space on her way to the tryline.
Gunnedah regained possession from two successive kick-offs, but the Norths defence remained intact.
The Bears conceded two quick penalties but survived again, before an outstanding tag from Wilkinson-Ryan prevented a try.
In the final two minutes, Hatch sprinted away for the final four-pointer despite a few attempts to tag her.
Next, the Bulldogs host Kootingal-Moonbi which defeated Gunnedah 14-0 back in round one.
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