WET AND WILD: Junior Blues score another Cooma Oval win to go to the top of the under-14s ladder

The conditions were wet and the action was wild when Narrabri and District Junior Rugby League’s under-14s side prevailed 28-20 in a try-fest against Farrer Green on Saturday.

It was a welcome return to Cooma Oval for the junior Blues which finally played their third home game of the campaign following five rounds on the road.

In the eighth round of the 2021 North West Group 4 Junior Rugby League season, Narrabri and Farrer Green crossed for five tries each in the 50-minute match.

The lead see-sawed throughout the contest with both sides leading at various stages of the game.

The junior Blues’ goal-kicking was the difference in the end. Narrabri lock Clay Hoffman kicked four of his five conversions while the visitors missed all five of theirs which proved to be costly.

The victory was Narrabri’s sixth in eight attempts in 2021. The junior Blues have accumulated 13 competition points following a loss and a draw in their other two games and they are currently first on the six-team ladder.

Second-placed Farrer Gold is one point behind the junior Blues side but has a game in hand after its round eight match was washed out and postponed.

At Cooma Oval on Saturday, it took Narrabri just two-and-a-half minutes to get on the scoreboard as back rower Nate Browning scored the first of his hat-trick. Nate scored off the back of a crash play just two tackles after the hosts fed a scrum 10 out from their line. He was far too strong for the Farrer defence as he burst through two defenders and slid over to score after charging between the uprights.

Clay Hoffman converted the try to make the score 6-0 which became 6-4 less than a minute later when the visitors scored from the following set after their kick-off found touch.

The visitors then scored two more tries and led 12-6 by the 12th minute.

But Narrabri hit back, stunning the Farrer team with a short kick off which led to the home side’s second try. Jack Anderson caught the Farrer boys off guard, kicking the ball just 10 metres off the tee into space for back rower Lincoln Browning who scooped the ball up and charged 30 metres up-field. He was eventually tackled but Narrabri had identified an overlap down the right edge and executed to perfection as Jack Anderson threw a perfect cut out pass to winger Beau Fitzgerald who crossed in the corner.

The fast-pace, action-packed start continued when the junior Blues dropped the ball from the kick-off, but defended a set on their line before retaking the lead after Mehki Ross made a line break and ran 80 metres to go over under the crossbar. Clay Hoffman converted to put his team ahead 16-12.
Farrer would have the final say of the first half as they made the score 16-all with a 25th-minute try.

The visitors missed their fourth kick in a row which meant that despite scoring four tries to Narrabri’s three, they would have to wait to regain the lead.

That wait was short-lived as Farrer made the score 20-16 with a try just three minutes after play restarted.

The free-flowing try-fest witnessed in the first half quickly transitioned to a 10-minute period where both sides made several mistakes as the slippery conditions began to take their toll on the contest.

But with 11 minutes remaining in the game, Narrabri’s Nate Browning made no mistake when he broke the line inside his own half and charged 70 metres to score the junior Blues’ fourth try of the contest.

Clay Hoffman added the extras with a successful conversion from centre-field to put the hosts ahead 22-20.

Nate crossed again with five minutes left to play and Clay made it a two possession game with his fourth successful conversion as the junior Blues went ahead 28-20.

That was the final score as the junior Blues held on to finish the round in first place.