Bombala Vs Narooma
On Sunday, July 17 the sun was shining for the last home game for the Bombala District Blue Heelers for the 2016 season. And what a great successful day it was, with all three grades taking the win against the Narooma club.
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High Heelers
The High Heelers were expecting a tough hit out against the only team they have lost to all year. With a close first half the High Heelers were forced to stay patient in attack and relied heavily on their ability to defend their own line. Try saving tags from Georgie Clarke, Rosie Walcott and Kayley Keavey in particular helped to keep the Narooma She-Devils from scoring points in the first half. Eventually it would be a break away try to captain Patrice Clear that would see the Heelers take the lead 6-0 by half time.
With a tricky short kick-off, regathered by Abbey Kimber the Heelers looked back on target after half time. However it would be Narooma who would pounce on a dropped ball from the Heelers to stride away and score under the black dot.
With the scores locked at 6-6, the Heelers seemed determined to finally stamp their mark on this game. Narooma kept testing the skills of the Heelers under the high ball but the safe and reliable hands of Janine Jamieson and Keiarna Rodwell would not falter.
Again it was their fierce leader Patrice Clear who would find space off a well-executed ball from Emma Sullivan; and Clear scored again under the post.
Finding their rhythm the Heelers confidence began to build, strong runs from Chloe Murphy and Kristy Nichols would see the Heelers gain good field possession. Monique Ingram taking the blind side option would find the lightening legs of Tash Stewart, Stewart would link up with a supporting Keirarna Rodwell out wide. Rodwell still had work to do, beating multiple defenders and would eventually place a perfect ball back inside to Stewart who continued on in support and would eventually score for the Heelers.
Annie McGrath continued to show great skill in her kicking ability and again converted for the home team, the score now 18-6. Determined to finish strong the Heelers continued to put pressure on the She-Devils line and when the ball went to ground by Narooma, it was Abbey Kimber who quickly regathered and would dive over the line to score another 4 points and cement the Heelers win convincingly at 24-6.
Players Player and 3 points went to Patrice Clear (sponsored by Clear Cut Electrical & Rural Services), 2 points went to Keiarna Rodwell (sponsored by Rodwell Haulage & Plant Hire) and 1 point went to Janine Jamieson (sponsored by Jamieson Bros Sawmill).
Reserve Grade
Just five minutes in, the away side would find the try line, indicating this was not going to be an easy game for the Bombala reserves. However they did not drop their heads and instead it would be Nic Rosten who hit back for the home team just four minutes later.
Further tries to Jackson Standen and James Coates would take the score to 16-6 in favour of the home team 30 minutes in. Strong dominating runs by Ben Mooney, Raymond Kading and James Coates would give the Heelers the go forward they needed and the direction from Pat Gaudie and Mick Sullivan in at the halves gave great structure. Eventually Nic Rosten would again go over for the home team and Kurt Lomas would add his own four pointer as he found space just before the bell. At half time the Heelers would have a comfortable lead at 26-12.
Only minutes into the second half Ben Mooney would hit the ball up close to the line where he would muscle his way over to score for the home team. The next 10 minutes however would see the Narooma side slot in two 6 pointers taking the score to 18-30 with still 25 minutes of football left to play.
Strong defensive efforts from Paul Gimbert, Nat Jennings and Sam Sten would be pertinent to keep the away team from steaming home. Joel Cherry had a great work rate carting the ball up for the Heelers, as did Korie Elton. The next points would eventually go to the home teams Pat Goudie taking the score to 36-18 in the 59th minute.
The last 20 minutes of football were left scoreless as each team worked hard in defence. Bombala Reserve grade welcomed the final bell with a great win cementing their place in the top four on the leader board, making things look promising for a spot in the finals.
Players Player and 3 points went to Ben Mooney (sponsored by Delegate Hotel), 2 points went to James Coates (sponsored by Southern Stockyards and Fencing) and 1 point went to Jackson Standen (sponsored by D & L Earthworks).
First Grade
The Blue Heelers first grade team welcomed the return of captain coach Joe Bobbin back from injury on Sunday as he proceeded to play a strong game always leading by example with strong tackle-busting runs and solid defence. With a promising start the Blue Heelers would capitalise on back to back sets on their line and the infamous combination of Paul Perkins and Brett Hodak would again see Hodak score in close to the posts. At 6-0 just two minutes in the crowd knew they were in for another great game of football.
Narooma hit back strongly with a well-executed kickoff finding touch, Bombala were now forced to bare the brunt of Narooma’s attack for the first time. The away team would find space out wide and the score would soon be 4-6. Ten minutes later from about the half way line Tyler Jones would find space between defenders and streak away, unable to be matched in pace, to score under the posts. This try would soon be followed up by yet another Brett Hodak try where his barn storming run would flatten defenders leaving a trail of destruction and an open try line. With the scores 16-4 Bombala looked favourites.
Fantastic defence from Malcolm Stone and Wame Belolevu could be almost felt by the crowd. Paul Perkins kicking game kept the Narooma players tested and gained great field possession for the home team. However just before half time Narooma would spread the ball wide quickly and would dive over in the corner to take the score to 16-8 at half time in favour of the Bombala boys.
After half time it would take just one minute for Paul Perkins to take a dash from dummy half, managing to muscle his way over for a 4 pointer. With Wame’s conversion the score would be taken to 22-8. However Narooma were not about to lay down and when a long ball was intercepted by their number 2, Rod Ceasar, no one could catch him as he ran 80m to score. At 14-22 with still 30 minutes of footy left, this game was still up for the taking.
The next 10 minutes would see Bombala receive good field possession off back to back penalties from Narooma. The ball would eventually be thrown wide where Mitch Lynch would finish off the play scoring in the corner taking the score to 26-14.
Bailey Jones proved solid and safe in at fullback returning the ball with great skill, as was Murray Jackson often putting his hand up to make strong runs gaining good field possession for the home team. However it would be Narooma’s halfback who would eventually find space between defenders and the score would be taken to a close 26-20. As the crowd began to get nervous, Narooma would again capitalise on Bombala errors and spread the ball wide quickly to score yet again taking the score to a nail biting 26-24 still in the home team’s favour, with 10 minutes of play to go.
Bombala were determined to change the momentum of the game which seemed to have swayed to Narooma and 5 minutes later it was again the experience of Paul Perkins and Brett Hodak whose combination would see Hodak score his hat trick for the day taking the score to 32-24 to Bombala. The last 5 minutes saw great passion coming from the home team with fierce defence particularly from Joe Bobbin and great talk, the home team would take the much deserved win.
Players Player went to Brett Hodak (sponsored by Southern Stockyards & Fencing), 3 points went to Paul Perkins (sponsored by MCH Welding), 2 points went to Murray Jackson (sponsored by Bobbin Rustic Creations) and 1 point was shared between Malcolm Stone (sponsored by Gimbert’s Mobile Butchery) and Craig Bottom (sponsored by Cooma Cranes).
The Bombala & District RLFC would like to recognise all of the support, help and cheering from their hometown at all of their home games this year. Bombala has proved not only has it got great facilities to host the football but a great community always willing to help out. We encourage everyone to make the trip down to Cobargo this weekend on Sunday, July 24 where all three grades will play against the Eden and Cobargo teams in the last round game before finals footy.
Again a big thank you to the Bombala RSL club for their sponsorship this year and great hospitality after the games.