Narrabri Rugby Club’s women’s team ended the 2022 Central North Rugby Union 10s competition regular season in dominant fashion when it scored a 45-point victory against Gunnedah Red Devils at Dangar Park in round 18 on Saturday.
The Blue Boars downed Gunnedah 50-5 in front of a home crowd to finish the season on a high, having already secured a qualifying final spot.
It was the second week in a row that the second-placed Blue Boars scored a big win against the side ranked just one spot below them on the ladder after they went to Gunnedah in round 17 and returned home with the five points following an 89-7 victory.
Narrabri reaffirmed its status as one of the competition heavyweights in the 18th round when it ran in eight tries to one and kicked five goals to none to earn five competition points.
Elsewhere, the 2022 minor premiers Tamworth Pirates defeated the last-placed Scone Brumbies 48-0 to finish the season on 85 points following 12 wins and just one loss.
The Blue Boars were just eight points behind the Pirates following 10 wins and three losses this year. Both sides secured 12 bonus points each.
Narrabri’s captain and leading try-scorer Toni Gale registered half of her side’s points on Saturday as she ran in three tries and added 10 more points off the boot via five conversions.
The other 25 points came via two Bella Cruickshank tries as well as tries to Annie Wenner, Shona McFarland and Brooke McKinnon.
Gale went into the match having scored 22 tries in just 11 games, and it only took her 90 seconds to add a 23rd when she crossed for the home side’s first of the day. The Blue Boars had camped themselves on the Gunnedah line and were throwing everything at the visitors just inside the right sideline before they spread the ball to Peta Cox back in the centre of the field, who threw a superb pass to Gale that put her through a hole.
Gale converted that try to make the score 7-0, which became 12-0 less than a minute later when the Blue Boars went on the attack again and Cruickshank grounded 10 metres in from the left sideline.
The hosts found more success down that left edge moments later when they went over 10 metres in from the sideline once again, and this time it was Wenner who claimed it when she ran onto a Gale offload close to the line and powered her way over.
That try made the score 17-0 at the quarter-time break, which became 17-5 at half-time after Gunnedah’s Laura Sadler scored the only try of the second quarter.
The hosts extended their lead to 19 points three-and-a-half minutes into the second half when their captain produced a superb long kick from just behind halfway for Cruickshank to run onto.
She got there first and then scooped up the ball to score her second try of the day before Gale converted to make the score 24-5.
The hosts extended that to 29-5 four minutes later when Cox broke the line 15 metres out and threw a brilliant pass to Shona McFarland, who raced way and slammed the ball down.
Gale scored her second of the day a minute later when Martha Harvey fired a long pass to her, 10 metres out from the line, and the skipper stepped back inside and ran through a hole to cross the stripe before converting her own try to make the score 36-5.
Gunnedah went into the fourth and final quarter determined to register more points and hopefully produce a miracle comeback, but Narrabri held the visitors out and eventually stretched its advantage to 38 points with three minutes to go when Brooke McKinnon ran onto a Harvey pass close to the line and grounded for Narrabri’s seventh try.
The Blue Boars reached 50 with the last play of the round 18 contest when Gale converted her third try of the day to make the final score 50-5.
Narrabri will now enjoy a weekend off before it lines up in the women’s 10s competition qualifying final on Saturday, September 3, against the Tamworth Pirates in Gunnedah.
The Blue Boars’ first grade side will also be in action that day when it takes on Gunnedah in the qualifying final after securing a second-placed finish with a win against the minor premiers in round 18.
The women’s 10s elimination final will be played this Saturday when third-placed Quirindi takes on fourth-placed Gunnedah in Inverell.
The winner of that knockout match will progress to the preliminary final on Saturday, September 10, while the loser will be eliminated.
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