A roaring sense of excitement turned into a dumbfounding sense of despair in a matter of seconds at Jubilee Oval on Saturday when the Boggabri Kangaroos went down 28-24 against the Kootingal-Moonbi Roosters in round three of the Group 4 Rugby League season.
Having gone into half-time ahead 18-12, the Kangaroos led 24-22 with less than two minutes to play when fullback Dylan Lake crossed for what he thought was his hat-trick after he had already gone over twice.
However, despite being adamant he grounded the ball and the referee appearing to have no issue either, the linesman judged Lake to have dropped it over the line.
That decision denied the hosts the chance to seal the match and also gave the Roosters a 20-metre restart.
That then turned into a penalty for a Boggabri high tackle on play one, and the visitors went almost 80 metres to score the match-winner after Anders Glew tapped the ball and charged down the blind side before linking up with winger Merv Powell who crossed for the winning try.
Powell then kicked the conversion, and there was no time for Boggabri to respond as the visitors walked away with a four-point win and the two competition points.
Boggabri Kangaroos first grade coach Shane Rampling was in utter disbelief after the match.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” he told Group 4 Media.
“I’m still in shock, dumbfounded.
“Dyl (Lake) was adamant we’d scored, but the touch judge came on and gave his two bits worth and the ref ruled it a knock-on.
“We gave away that penalty from the restart and they run 80 metres and score.
“We were our own worst enemy, though.
“Couldn’t complete our sets. Had plenty of opportunities but couldn’t execute. Couldn’t put them away.
“They were down to 12 men too, so we had no excuses.”
Rampling said he was pleased with his side’s effort on a rainy day during a game that was played in wet and muddy conditions, and thought Jack Gillham, Shaun Donnan and Pauli Dinauvoli were impressive.
Lake was also a standout, with the fullback earning two Group 4 best and fairest points to go with his two tries.
Robert Doolan and Cameron Kerr also crossed for a four-pointer each for the home side and Doolan slotted four goals, while Kootingal-Moonbi’s first four tries were shared between Nick Zahra, Chris Vidler, Logan Howard and Glew before Powell went over for the match-winner on full-time.
Despite the disappointing end to the day for the hosts at Jubilee Oval, there was still plenty to cheer about as the Kangaroos’ reserve grade side scored its second win of the campaign when it downed the Roosters convincingly 28-10.
Keighan Woodhead and Ben Haire both bagged doubles in their side’s win and teammate Chris Anderson also crossed, while Jayde Campbell kicked three goals and Jack Hayes also scored a two-pointer.
The two goal-kickers also polled Group 4 best and fairest points as Hayes earned the three and Anderson was awarded the one.
Boggabri is ranked fifth on the eight-team ladder in reserve grade after three rounds. It is the lowest-ranked of four teams on four points, which all trail ladder leaders Moree by two.
Moree won 26-6 in round three away from home against Gunnedah on Sunday to finish the weekend as the only reserve grade team to have won all three games.
Kicking off the day at Jubilee Oval on Saturday, the Kangaroos went down 24-0 in the ladies league tag game, in which Callie Fordham was awarded one Group 4 best and fairest point.
Boggabri’s three sides now travel to Dungowan on Saturday in round four.
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