The Gunnedah Red Devils continued to show their ability to record come-from-behind wins, as they accounted for the Tamworth Pirates at Pirates Rugby Club last Saturday.
Gunnedah’s 45-31 triumph pushed the Red Devils into top spot on the Central North rugby union ladder, while the Pirates were relegated to last place.
Last Saturday’s showdown nonetheless suggested the Pirates were no easybeats while the Red Devils still had much to work on.
The home side led 12-5 at half-time and then moved ahead 19-5 before the visitors posted six unanswered tries in 25 minutes.
Red Devils captain Tim McDermott said it was a “fantastic win” for his team, as the venue was “a notoriously tough place for the Red Devils in the past”.
Gunnedah scored the first try before paying the price for turning the ball over in its own quarter, as this resulted in two tries to the Pirates.
The hosts struck early in the second half as Jack Edwards scored but, as they had done against Narrabri and Inverell, the Red Devils found a way to claw back.
A try to Ben Hamparsum was followed by Kolinio Nakarawa’s second of the day, before Hamparsum also completed a double.
The onslaught continued as a five-pointer to Adrian Burl was followed by Nakarawa completing a hat-trick, before Junior Nasilivata joined the list of try-scorers.
Gunnedah had turned a 19-5 deficit into a 45-19 lead but then the Red Devils seemingly eased the pressure, as a try to the Pirates in the 69th minute was followed by another in the dying stages.
McDermott, Burl and Hamparsum were rated the pick of Gunnedah’s players according to the 3-2-1 voting.
Gunnedah coach Daniel Martin said there were some similarities from previous fixtures, with the Red Devils showing good resolve when behind on the scoreboard.
Martin said the challenging part was that there hadn’t been “good flowing rugby”, which he attributed to the season draw as there had repeatedly been two- or three-week breaks between games.
Martin said the Red Devils had a good 25-minute period in the second half last Saturday, after having a strong 30-minute period which featured 24 unanswered points in a 34-33 win against Quirindi.
“We haven’t been able to build longer periods of control,” he said, also noting that his team seemed to switch off and put the cue in the rack.
This Saturday the Red Devils host the second-placed Moree Bulls, who beat Gunnedah 45-28 at Weebolla Rugby Club in the season-opening round back on April 26.
Despite his team being on top of the ladder, Martin said he rated the Red Devils as the underdog.
“They’ve got a complete side,” Martin said of the Bulls.
“Defensively they show up, and if we give errors away like we did against Quirindi and Pirates, we might not be able to come back.”
The availability of Red Devils trio Sam Skipper, Lachy Mack and Nick Lyons remains unclear, with all three of them carrying injuries.
While Gunnedah’s reserve graders are still chasing a breakthrough win, they produced one of their best performances of the year last Saturday as they went down 33-19 to a Pirates line-up which notched five tries to three.
Billy Tregoning, Pat Grant and Josh Carter were rated the best of the Red Devils.
The Bulls meanwhile have won their first six reserve grade contests this season.
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