It wasn’t pretty, but Narrabri Rugby Club’s first XV got the job done at Dangar Park on Saturday afternoon when they came from behind to beat Quirindi 17-14 in round eight of the Central North Rugby Union season.

The Blue Boars trailed 7-5 at half-time and 14-5 just five minutes into the second half before hitting back with two tries to establish a 17-14 lead with 18 minutes to go. Neither team troubled the scorers from that point on as the Blue Boars held on to win by three points.

Narrabri’s coach Craig Gleeson was pleased with the result but thought that it was one of his side’s poorer performances of the season.

“We probably didn’t deserve to win it, I thought,” Gleeson told The Courier.

“I think being 7-5 down at half-time really flattered us. They had the much better going, especially in the first 20 minutes. They were a lot more ready for it than we were, I think. They were physically dominant over us and we were quite passive in a lot of things we were doing.

“I think we were fortunate to go into half-time only down by two, but in saying that, with the amount of ball they had, our defence stood strong again. To only concede one try in that first half was a pretty big effort considering how dominant I thought Quirindi were.

“Then their try in the second half was against the run of play. It was the story of our day, to be honest. Our ball control, our runs and our cleanout were not effective all day, which was disappointing after parts of the game we’d put together the week before, to go backwards this week at home was quite disappointing.

“But in saying that, again, we let in an 80-metre runaway try from a turnover and one other try when we weren’t at our best, and I think that probably speaks volumes about the capabilities of the side.

“When you can win games like that, they’re the ones that can turn you into a champion team. The ones you win when you shouldn’t, they can change your season.”

The Blue Boars found themselves behind early in the contest when Daniel Calvassy crossed for the first try of the game and his teammate Tom Clare kicked the Lions out to a 7-0 lead.

The visitors looked set to go into half-time ahead by a converted try, but Narrabri reduced the deficit to two points in the 37th minute when skipper Will McDonnell scored his third try in two weeks to get his side on the scoreboard.

The Blue Boars were on the attack early in the second half, but a wayward pass hit the deck and was collected by Clare before the Quirindi fullback ran 80 metres to score. He then slotted the kick to put the away side ahead 14-5.

The Blue Boars refused to go away, and they hit back in the 55th minute when Will Turner scored off the back of a brilliant lineout play close to the line. Turner threw the ball in short to prop Will Ciesiolka, who passed the ball straight back to his hooker, and Turner went over untouched.

That made the score 14-10, which became 17-14 in the 62nd minute when Jydon Hill crossed for the Blue Boars’ third try of the day and Todd Nichols kicked the home side out to a three-point lead.

Narrabri thought they had extended their lead when McDonnell charged onto a Todd Nichols grubber kick and grounded the ball, but the Blue Boars skipper was ruled to have been offside. While that denied them a bonus point, they still managed to pick up four points after holding on to prevail 17-14.

The win was the Blue Boars’ fourth on the trot and saw them remain in second spot on the ladder. They are now on 31 points following four wins, a loss and three byes, which has them sitting seven points behind the Moree Bulls (38), who had their second bye of the season on Saturday and have won all six games they have played so far.

In third place are Narrabri’s round nine opponents, Tamworth Pirates, who the Blue Boars will meet away from home at Chillingworth Oval this Saturday in round nine. Pirates are on 26 points following three victories, two losses and three byes, and Gleeson that said he and his men were well aware that they would be facing quite a tough test against the Tamworth outfit.

“We’re really looking forward to next weekend now. We got away with that one, but it’s in the past and we’re not going to dwell on it,” Gleeson said.

“We’ll focus on Pirates next weekend and finishing the first round strongly.

“Pirates will be up for it and they’ll be physical. They always are. I imagine they’ll play through the forwards and really try and test us close to the rucks.

“They jumped back into third this weekend with other results, and they will be looking for a big performance against us as they always do. They aren’t going to let us have it, so we need to be a lot better prepared and start the game a lot better than we did (against Quirindi).”

The only other round eight game in the first grade competition saw Gunnedah Red Devils score their first win of the year as they beat Inverell Highlanders 36-19 in front of a home crowd in Gunnedah. That saw Inverell fall from third to fourth as they were overtaken by the Pirates. Inverell are now on 24 points, while Quirindi (21), Gunnedah (21) and Scone (16) make up the bottom three on the seven-team ladder.

In second grade at Dangar Park on Saturday, Narrabri went down 22-20 against Quirindi. The hosts outscored the Lions four tries to three and earned a bonus point, but the visitors kicked two conversions and a penalty goal while the Blue Boars failed to add any extra points off the boot.

Jacob Booby scored a hat-trick for Narrabri and Jack Smith scored their second try of the day.

The Blue Boars are now fourth on the eight-team ladder but can rise to third this Saturday if they get a win over third-placed Tamworth Pirates, who they are locked on 30 points alongside.

Moree are first with 37 points and Quirindi are second with 31 points.

The only other second grade game played on Saturday saw fifth-placed Scone Brumbies beat the sixth-placed Barraba Rams 17-14 in Scone.

The Blue Boars’ women’s tens team played their round eight match on Thursday night at Dangar Park, where they accounted for Moree 52-12 to stay on top of the table.

Jack Maunder celebrates 150th game for the Blue Boars with a win

It was a day of celebration at Dangar Park on Saturday as one of Narrabri Rugby Club’s finest, Jack Maunder, played his 150th game for the Blue Boars.

Maunder made his senior debut back in 2013 and has been a part of three first grade premierships for the club.

The gun flanker is one of the most respected players at the club and is the current first grade vice-captain.

His coach Craig Gleeson was full of praise for the milestone man after the Blue Boars’ three-point win against Quirindi on Saturday.

“One thing about Jack is he is wholehearted,” Gleeson said.

“I think the word (on the club’s Facebook post) was there’s only one thing that matches the size of his motor on the field, and that’s his heart. He’s like that every week.

“He took some hard carries (against Quirindi) and got jammed a few times, but he kept turning up. If you ask him, he’d probably say it wasn’t his strongest games, but he led from the front and never shirked it.

“He’s one of those players that you need to have in your footy team. He is a leader by his actions.”