Following a 65-0 demolition of Scone at Dangar Park in round five on Saturday, May 8, Narrabri Rugby Club’s first grade side scored its round six win in quite the opposite fashion when it travelled to Inverell and won by a point on Saturday.
The Blue Boars trailed 36-26 against the Highlanders with just 14 minutes left to play before substitute forwards Todd Farrer and Mitch Wheaton both crashed over for tries to put the visitors ahead 37-36.
Inverell regained possession soon after Wheaton’s five-pointer and Narrabri was forced to defend for the majority of the final four minutes of the match.
Hunter Harley’s men were up to the task, holding the home side out before earning and winning a scrum on their own 10-metre line after which skipper Matt Schwager threw a pass deep to his halves partner Henri Knight who sent the ball flying over the sideline off his boot to bring an end to the high-scoring affair.
The result saw the Blue Boars retain their second place standing while moving to within just one point of ladder leaders Gunnedah which suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday.
The Red Devils went down 50-7 away from home against Walcha, while the other round six matches were won by Pirates and Moree which beat Barraba 74-12 and Scone 48-22 respectively.
At Inverell on Saturday, the Highlanders scored the first try of the contest after just five minutes.
The Blue Boars then hit back with their first try as flanker Jack Maunder scooped up the ball out of the back of a ruck close to the line on the left edge and charged down the short side to make the score 7-5 after 10 minutes of play.
Narrabri wingers Nick Tomlinson (right) and James Albert (left) both chipped in with tries down their respective edges as the score became 15-7 to the Blue Boars after 24 minutes of play.
The Highlanders then registered back-to-back tries to get themselves back in front and the hosts took the 17-15 lead into the half-time break.
The Blues Boars lost temporarily Will Turner to a yellow card just before the break, but playing with 14 men had an opposite affect as Jydon Hill secured a bonus point for the visitors with a try 65 seconds into the second stanza which put Narrabri in front 20-17.
A Schwager try, which was converted by Hill, either side of two Inverell converted tries made the score 31-27 before the Highlanders’ Thomas Scotton crossed for his team’s sixth and final try to put the hosts ahead 36-27 with 20 minutes left to play.
Farrer then made the score 36-32 with 14 minutes remaining, then with five to go the Blue Boars won a penalty 10 out from the line from which the final try was scored.
Schwager took a quick tap and caught the home side’s defence napping as he drew in a defender close to the line and passed right to Wheaton who charged over for the win.
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