Cobar Roosters and the visiting Coonabarabran Unicorns have turned on a thrilling top-of-the-table Boronia Cup challenge game at Cobar’s Tom Knight Memorial Oval.
In what turned out to be a low scoring, yet nonetheless enthralling battle, the match wasn’t decided Cobar’s hooker and Western Division player, Thomas Plater, scored a try in the 79th minute to secure a win for the Roosters.
The only score in the first half was a converted try to Coonabarabran’s centre Eddie Kuras to take a 6-0 lead into the sheds after a very tough first forty minutes.
With points hard to come by for both sides, it wasn’t until midway through the second stanza that Cobar lock Loma Atuau crossed the stripe. Tadgh McMullen’s successful conversion locked the scores up at 6-all.
A McMullen penalty goal broke the deadlock in the 74th minute to edge his side in front for the first time in the match, before Plater’s try sealed the deal for the Roosters with one minute remaining.
Apart from retaining the Boronia Cup, the win also elevated the Roosters to outright first place on the competition ladder after the two teams went into the match on 34 points.
Cobar will be out to retain that vital first spot next Saturday when they travel to Narromine to take on the Jets in the last competition round.
After a 36-26 win over Warren Bulldogs, the Jets will be determined to make a statement, while the Roosters cannot afford to lose if they want to claim the Minor Premiership.
Meanwhile the Unicorns will face another testing road trip this Saturday when they play the Coolah Kangaroos in what is a replay of last year’s Grand Final.
The game will be played at Mudgee’s Glen Willow Stadium as the major curtain raiser to the NRL match between Penrith Panthers and Canberra Raiders.
The Roos downed Coonamble Bears 34-16 to maintain third position on the ladder, but a loss this Saturday could see them drop down to fourth if Dunedoo Swans get over the top of Gilgandra Panthers on Friday night.
Gilgandra are coming off a hard-fought victory over Gulgong Bull Terriers at Gilgandra. The Panthers scored 20 points in the first half before the Terriers staged a second-half comeback but fell just short 20-16.
In League Tag, a narrow 12-10 win by Gulgong against Gilgandra means that they now sit one point ahead of the Pink Panthers in fifth position on the competition table, heading into the last round.
Click here for all Round 13 scores from the Christie and Hood Castlereagh League.
