The Harden Hawks played the Binalong Brahmans last Saturday at McLean Oval and had a 24-16 victory.
The Binalong Brahmans started well and crossed for an early converted try.
It was a scrappy start by the Hawks with several dropped balls and the players were not moving up with their usual rugged defense. No doubt the boys were nervous in the biggest game of the year which had had a huge build-up.
The Brahmans continued their good momentum early and crossed again to take a handy 10-0 lead.
It was a credit to the young Hawks that they did not panic; instead steadied and started to take control of the ball.
It was still seven minutes before half time before the Hawks scored when Daniel Drew darted across for an unconverted try to make the half time score 10-6 with the Brahmans leading.
The Brahmans started well again in the second half and soon crossed for another converted try to lead 16-4. This seemed to spur the young hawks on and they quickly hit back with a good try to Jarrod Sharman which Peter Adam converted.
This try was the start of a great comeback by the Hawks.
Luke Brown; Chris Beal and Andrew Jones combined to score an unconverted try to bring the score closer 16-14.
The Brahmans seemed rattled and with 11 minutes to go, Luke Brown forced his way over for an unconverted try and the Hawks took the lead for the first time 18-16.
In a nail biting finish, Tyson Astil crossed for a try which Nathan Schofield converted from out wide to give the Hawks a brilliant 24-16 victory.
It was a tremendous victory by the young Hawks who continue to impress under the guidance of coach Nathan Schofield.
The team has great spirit and enjoy their football and this is what it should be all about.
The whole side played well but someone has to be singled out for awards.
The player’s player was shared between Tyson Astil and Luke Grange, Joe Dyball was the man of the match and Luke Brown received the coach’s award.
Binalong and Harden now share top on the table leading on 20 points, however Binalong are ahead on a very strong ‘for’ record of 516 compared to 408 for the Hawks. Bungendore are in third place followed by Boomanulla and Goulburn Exchange.
The day was also successful financially for the club and it was a great effort by all the volunteers who work so hard behind the scene.
The club however needs more volunteers as there is a very small band of workers keeping the club going.
A special thank you to Shelly Quinn for stepping in at the last minute to help in the kiosk. (after working for junior league as well!). Please let the coach or committee know if you can help out in any way.
This Saturday the Harden Hawks travel to Canberra to play the Harman Seadogs at their popular venue at the naval base. The game is at the earlier starting time of 2.30pm.
Until next week. Go the Harden Hawks.
CH
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