The local girls found the first half of this contest a tough battle. With the muddy slippery conditions, ball handling seemed to be a consistent issue for both teams. Despite the Heelers still with most of the field possession, they were forced to grind out the first half with solid defensive efforts given the consistent handover of possession. Lucy Sellers, Patrice Clear and Amy Stone were particularly instrumental in defence with their solid tagging efforts. Various opportunities to score out wide on both wings were waved away as the Moruya defence proved tough to crack.

The away side continued to test the Heelers ball handling skills by putting the ball into the air on most sets, but the safe retrievals from Keiarna Rodwell were outstanding and she continued to prove dangerous in her hard line running upon returning the ball. With the scores remaining nil all at half time, the Heelers were determined to capitalise on a less muddy try line with safe hands after the break. It was Georgie Clarke who deservedly scored first points capitalising on a loose ball from the Moruya side, scooping it up to place down over the try line. Georgie had a fantastic game, consistently making great line breaks and gaining the Heelers much needed field possession. Starting to find their groove, only 2 minutes later Monique Ingram would take the blind side option finding the defence outnumbered, off-loading to the lightening paced Tash Stewart. Tash would duck and weave through defenders leaving them out off their feet, striding away to score under the black dot. The score at 10-nil the Heelers were forced to defend their own line as the Sharkettes got back to back sets, however the Heelers stood strong, their defence never failing. As the full time siren loomed the Heelers found themselves back up on their own try line and as the ball was quickly spread wide, Kristy Nicholls offloaded a perfectly timed ball to put Annie McGrath in for a late try in the dying minutes of the game. The Heelers took victory at 14-0 in a tough, grinding battle of testing conditions.

Player’s player awarded from her peers went to Georgie Clarke. Three points went to Tash Stewart (sponsored by Raw Strength & Fitness), 2 points went to Georgie again and 1 point went to Keiarna Rodwell (sponsored by Rodwell Haulage & Plant Hire).

Another tightly contested game for the Blue Heelers reserve grade but unfortunately this time the Heelers would not come out on top. The go forward from the likes of Keiran Wilson, Clay Clear, Matthew Stone and Sam Sten continued to help the Heelers gain good field possession. Clay Stewart was able to muscle his way over to score first points for the Heelers, on converting his own try, the scores would be all locked up six all just 13 minutes in. The scoreboard would see a tit-for- tat scoring regime, where Bombala would again take the lead through a classy Ben Mooney try in the 23rd minute, with the score at 12-10. However Moruya’s attack proved hard to handle for the home team and by halftime Moruya would go into the sheds winning 12-20. The Bombala boys came out, it seemed on fire, just three minutes in Sam Sten would add another 4 points to the Bombala side, with a successful conversion Bombala would only be two points away from leveling things up at 18-20.

However with a much more solid defensive effort from both teams in the second half, points were not as common as in the first. Mick Sullivan would be instrumental in directing the troops around the field and taking some classy runs himself gaining good field possession. Kurt Lomas was great out of dummy half not only feeding well executed balls but proving extremely solid in the defensive line.

Unfortunately it would only be Moruya who would again score before the siren and would cement their win 18-26.

Players player went to Keiran Wilson (sponsored by Brownlie Bro Shearing), 3 points went to Sam Sten (sponsored by Village Ford), 2 points went to Kurt Lomas (sponsored by Clear Cut Electrical & Rural Services) and 1 point went to Mick Sullivan (sponsored by DF & D Stewart).

The Blue Heelers first grade team had the tough task of taking on the top of the table, undefeated Moruya Sharks. An extremely gutsy effort from the Bombala lads saw a game that would almost end in their favour.

Captain Mick Weyman of the Moruya Sharks, former NRL player, was first to acknowledge the efforts from the Bombala team not only for their courageous and skilful efforts on the paddock but for their efforts over the last two years, staying determined, committed and loyal to standing alone as the Bombala club, willing to put in the hard yards to build as a club to ensure the first grade comp continues to be a success for Group 16.

As the game started off, Moruya would gain first points just two minutes in, however Bombala would not drop their heads and it was a clever Nick Rosten who would pounce on a loose ball from a Moruya error, to even things up on the scoreboard. The game was proving very physical with Luke Ingram instrumental in putting his body on the line, hitting just as hard in attack as he did in defence.

As Moruya gained a penalty close to their line it was the force of Mick Weyman that proved too hard to stop, Moruya would take the lead 6-12. However Bailey Jones would make a fantastic 70m run, out shining the defence with his pace, only to be met by their fullback just metres shy of the line, a skilful offload to the supporting Tyler Jones could not be matched and Tyler would score, taking the score to 10-12. Moruya seemed rattled by the onslaught from the classy home team and from the kick off would kick out on the full. Bombala would again capitalise with a precision ball thrown from Andrew Guthrie to hit a steaming Wame on the chest who would beat defenders and dive over in the corner to take the lead for the Heelers.

With Wame able to covert from the sideline the score would now be 16-12. Wame not done yet, would pounce on a well executed high ball from Paul Perkins, to place the ball down yet again over the try line.

At 22-12 the Bombala Blue Heelers would go into the sheds a comfortable 10 points in front. However the Moruya team came out firing in the second half proving why they are on top of the ladder. They would hit Bombala’s right side edges multiple times finding space and overlaps, with three quick tries they would take the lead 22-28 in the 51st minute. The next 20 minutes of football was grueling, filled with big hits, multiple penalties, one of which was advanced due to back chat from Moruya giving the Bombala team multiple chances and great field possession.

Murray Jackson displayed outstanding work rate again constantly carting the ball up for the home team. Brett Hodak was pivotal in defence, often putting his body on the line. With the crowd on their feet the ball would be spread wide early only to be wrapped up by the Moruya defence. From here Moruya capitalised on ball possession and ran in two more tries in the last 10 minutes of the game to cement their win at 22-38.

Players player was awarded to Luke Ingram, 3 points went to Murray Jackson, 2 points went to Brett Hodak and 1 point was shared between Paul Perkins and Bailey Jones.

Thank you to all the supporters who again came out to watch on another mild day. Thank you to the Bombala RSL club for their major sponsorship and hosting the presentations after the game. The Bombala & District RLFC would like to welcome you all back next Sunday, July 17 for the last home game of the season in round 13 against the Narooma Devils and She-Devils.