The Gunnedah Red Devils women progressed to the Central North Rugby Union (CNRU) preliminary final, as they defeated the Moree Bulls 35-28 in last Saturday’s minor semi-final at Quirindi Rugby Club.
The Red Devils await the result of this Saturday’s major semi-final involving Narrabri and the Tamworth Pirates on Gunnedah soil, with the winner reaching the grand final while the loser contests the Red Devils in the preliminary final to determine the other grand finalist.
Jean Littlewood turned the minor semi-final Gunnedah’s way with a hat-trick of tries, after she also scored three tries the previous Saturday in a 34-10 beating of the Pirates.
Moree’s Millie Swan scored the first try, with Lizzie Gooden’s conversion giving the Bulls a short-lived 7-0 lead.
The hard-running Littlewood scored three converted tries in the nine minutes leading up to half-time to set up a 21-7 lead, before a converted try to Malia Mikaele stretched the margin to 21 points soon after play resumed.
Gunnedah’s Laura Higgins scored a converted try in the 26th minute as she exploited a hole in Moree’s defence, before a converted try to Moree’s Alexandra Marchand made the score 35-14 heading into the final 10-minute quarter.
The Bulls made use of their speed on the edges, and scored two unanswered tries in the final quarter to make the result appear close.
Swan scored the final try in the dying seconds, with Gooden landing her fourth conversion from as many attempts while Gunnedah skipper Madisan Rogers had kicked five from five.
