Last Saturday’s Group 4 rugby league clash at Kitchener Park was one for the ages, as there were plenty of memorable moments in Gunnedah’s 31-10 victory against the Boggabri Kangaroos.

There was rain, hail and shine as well as scuffling, player dismissals and facial injuries, with the fixture having originally been washed out before being rescheduled for two weeks after the original date.

The Bulldogs won the Boyde Campbell Cup – named after the late Boyde Campbell who had played for Gunnedah and Boggabri – and secured second place on the competition ladder while the Kangaroos were confined to fourth in the last round before the finals.

The hosts were up against it, having been reduced from 13 to 12 players on the field for the final 60 minutes of the 80-minute game after Ryley Mackay was sent off.

Another setback for Gunnedah came in the second half, when KC Edmonds sustained a badly damaged nose and eye socket amid heavy contact.

There was plenty of erratic football from both sides, resulting in numerous pendulum swings.

The Bulldogs led 4-0 in the ninth minute following a try to Mckye Tucknott, and then the game erupted sickeningly nearly 10 minutes later as a melee broke out.

Boggabri’s Pita Rogosau was banished to the sin bin for 10 minutes, and Mackay was sent off while a few other players were arguably lucky not to be dismissed for rushing into the brawl.

Boggabri levelled the scores following a big run from Ilaisa Kalokalodrau. Andrew Wallace subsequently rolled through a grubber-kick, with Cameron Kerr pouncing for a try.

The Kangaroos hit the front when a clever flick pass from Malakai Kovekalou set up a try for Tevita Peceli, and then Ash White’s conversion made the score 10-4 in the 30th minute.

Gunnedah soon drew level after a good run from acting-half resulted in Dylan Lake scampering away to score at the uprights.

The Bulldogs grabbed a six-point lead on the stroke of half-time, as a defensive error from the Kangaroos enabled Sunia Naruma to lay on another try for Tucknott.

Boggabri narrowly missed two golden chances to level the scores in the second half, with captain Matt Gillham held up over the line before White made a clever run and was ruled to have knocked on over the line.

The next turning point came as Lake swooped on a loose ball from the Kangaroos and sprinted 80 metres to set up a 22-10 lead.

With a little over 14 minutes of play remaining, the match was halted for about seven minutes due to hail before the rain and hail were replaced by sunny weather.

A field goal from Sam Taylor gave the Bulldogs a 13-point buffer in the 68th minute, and there was no sign of the Kangaroos recovering like they did on May 31 when they trailed 20-0 and later won 24-20 against the Bulldogs.

Naruma sliced through and produced a clever flick pass to set up Lake’s third try, before a penalty goal on full-time completed the scoring.

Gunnedah coach Sean Hayne was pleased with the way the Bulldogs hung in there and “turned up for each other”.

“We still dropped a few balls, we still dropped off a few tackles but everyone scrambled really well,” he said.

“They all believed in themselves and they worked hard for each other, and in the end they got the job done so it was pleasing.”

Hayne said there was no strategy after Mackay’s dismissal, as the Bulldogs needed to “control the ball, keep our shape, play to our structure and believe in each other, and keep turning up for each other”.

In the reserve grade match, two Boggabri players and one Gunnedah player were sin-binned in the Kangaroos’ 46-12 victory.

Boggabri led 16-4 at half-time, and finished with eight tries to three.

Boggabri’s reserve graders were assured of fourth place while Gunnedah could not break into the top four.