Boggabri and District Rugby League Football Club held their 2024 ladies’ day event on Sunday afternoon as they welcomed Wee Waa Panthers to Jubilee Oval in round 13 of the Group 4 Rugby League campaign.
The highly-anticipated league tag contest finished all square as the Boggabri and Wee Waa’s ladies teams contested an 18-all draw.
The home side got off to a flying start when Bianca Pye scored the first try of the game just three minutes after her side had kicked off. Belle Byrne made a linebreak inside the Panthers’ half and ended up just short of the tryline before being tagged, but a quick play-the-ball and a brilliant pass out of dummy half by Ashlyn Summers saw Pye go over 10 in from touch.
Cassidy Morley added the extras to make the score 6-0, which became 12-0 in the 23rd minute when Morley kicked her second goal of the day just after her teammate Courtney Grace-Coggin had crossed after jumping into dummy half close to the line.
Boggabri struck again seconds after the kick-off when Byrne received a pass just inside her own half and beat a handful of Wee Waa defenders as she raced 55 metres to score. Her try was converted by Morley as the home side went into the break with an 18-0 lead.
The Panthers finally hit back less than two minutes into the second stanza and it was a sensational try as Matilda Currey crossed for her first of the season. Currey started the play when she threw a pass to Megan Crutcher inside their own half down the right edge, and Crutcher charged about 50 metres deep into Boggabri’s half before passing back inside to Currey, who had supported her and then went over between the sticks.
Kristie Toomey converted that try to make the score 18-6, which became 18-12 almost 10 minutes later when Crutcher made another long-range run to put Wee Waa on the front foot and Tyanna Gaydon capitalised two plays later with some fancy footwork close to the line to beat two Boggabri defenders and score the away side’s second, which Toomey converted.
There was just under nine minutes left in the 50-minute game when Wee Waa struck again and levelled the score up at 18-all. The Panthers found themselves in great field position following a line drop out after Bella Cruickshank had forced a repeat set with a brilliant grubber kick into the in-goal, and Jessie Freeman charged onto a Gaydon short pass close to the line and grounded the ball under the crossbar. That gave Toomey an easy chance to equalise from right in front and she made no mistake.
Both sides pushed hard to find a winner during the final seven minutes of play, but they managed to hold each other out as the score finished 18-all and they settled for a point each.
That entraining clash headlined a weekend of nail-biting ladies league tag games in round 13 the 2024 Group 4 Rugby League competition.
Saturday’s games saw Werris Creek win 6-0 on home soil at David Taylor Oval against Kootingal-Moonbi, and Gunnedah and Dungowan play out a 24-all draw at Kitchener Park, before Narrabri lost 18-0 against Moree at Boughton Oval in the other game on Sunday.
North Tamworth had the bye and finished the weekend on top of the table with 23 points.
Werris Creek are also on 23 and trail Norths on for and against difference, while Kootingal-Moonbi (22) and Dungowan (17) make up the top four. Gunnedah are ranked fifth with 16 points, Moree are sixth with 10 points, Wee Waa are seventh after climbing to eight points, Narrabri are eighth with six points and Boggabri are ninth with five points.
Although Narrabri have won three matches and had a bye so far in 2024, they were not awarded the two points back in round four when they downed Moree 22-16 at Collins Park as they fielded an ineligible player at the time.
This weekend’s round 14 fixtures see Boggabri travel to take on Kootingal-Moonbi on Saturday, North Tamworth host Gunnedah on Saturday, Narrabri travel to Dungowan on Sunday and Wee Waa host Moree on Sunday.
Pictured below are more photos at Jubilee Oval on Sunday taken by The Courier’s Noreen Boehm during the Boggabri and District Rugby League Football Club’s ladies’ day event.
