Touch footy returns to Cooma Oval following flooding

Cooma Oval was one of many local sporting fields affected by the recent Narrabri floods, however, the home of Narrabri Touch’s men’s and ladies’ competitions was back in action on Monday evening for the 14th round of the campaign.

Seven of the eight scheduled games across the two competitions went ahead, with only one team unable to field a team.

That was the DTA Treated Timber Lumberjacks in the men’s division, which forfeited to the ladder leaders, Grumley Builders. The top-ranked team picked up a 5-0 win as a result of the forfeit, which took its 2022 season record to nine victories and no losses.

Grumley Builders sit atop the table with a maximum 27 points and boast a for and against difference of 41.

Remaining five points adrift of Grumley Builders in second place is Win Or Booze, which downed third-placed side Lations 6-2 in round 14.

Win Or Booze entered the round one point clear of Lations, and it extended that gap to three points as a result of the four-try win.

Meanwhile, fourth-placed team Gee Bangers closed the gap between them and Lations when they scored a 12-0 win against last-placed team NFC.

Gee Bangers went into round 14 trailing Lations by three points and are now just one point behind them.

Cougars were the other team that won in round 14 of the men’s comp when they edged out Ballbusters 7-6 in the closest game of the evening. That win saw Cougars leapfrog the Lumberjacks from seventh into sixth while the Ballbusters remained in eighth place.

The Wilga Pelicans had the bye on Monday and remained in fifth place on the ladder.

The ladies’ competition sides played their ninth games of the 2022 season on Monday in round 14, with five rounds washed out so far this season.

The top three teams continued their dominance with comfortable wins. Top-ranked Agies beat Hounddogs 12-0, second-placed SPA Redbacks downed the Wilga Westies 9-0, and third-placed Specialised Quarries and Concrete defeated Blue Birds 5-2.

Agies’ win was its ninth of the year as it finished round 14 on a maximum 27 competition points and a for and against difference of 85, while the SPA Redbacks’ victory was their eighth, and the Specialised Quarries and Concrete team’s win was its seventh.

In comparison, the fourth-ranked side, which is CBRE, has won just three games. The latest of those was on Monday when it shutout Touch’n’Go 7-0.

The draw and referee appointments for round 15 on Monday, November 7, are as follows:

6pm:
Canteen duty – Joan O’Neill; field one – NFC v Lations (referees – Jonty Schwager and Jydon Hill); field two – Agies Ladies v Specialised Quarries & Concrete (referees – Matt Roberts and Tom Nolan); field three – SPA Redbacks v Blue Birds (referees – Louise Tout and Jess McFetridge, with Wayne Nott as a mentor); field four – Ballbusters v Wilga Pelicans (referees – Todd Nichols and Dave Toomey).

6.35pm:
Canteen duty – Joan O’Neill; field one – Win or Booze v Grumley Builders (referees – Matt Roberts and Clifford Toomey Jnr); field two – CBRE v Wilga Westies (referees – Cathy Conomos and Brett Allison); field three – Hounddogs v Touch’n’Go (referees – Abby McClure, Amanda Smith and Craig Gleeson); field four – Gee Bangers v Cougars (referees – Scott Rickard and Luke Flood).

Bye – DTA Treated Timber Lumberjacks.