By Tallon Smith
Elliott Patterson beats his man in this series of photos when the Bulldogs took on Bungendore in early July and ends with a salute to the Coota Times Photographer. If Coota wins today and so does Bungendore, they may face them again yet this season. ‘Photo bombing’ the final picture is Geoff Hanson.
Photos by Matthew Stadtmiller.
The Cootamundra Bulldogs may have had to do it the hard way and face elimination first up, but that did not deter the boys in blue and white as they cruised to a 32-18 win over a gallant Boorowa side at Les Boyd Oval on Saturday. The match was a close affair in terms of try scoring, with the Bulldogs crossing five times compared to the Rovers’ four, but it was Cootamundra’s perfect five from five conversion record and a penalty goal that saw them gain a quite comfortable victory in the finish.
Cootamundra First Grade coach David Buttriss said that the match was closer than many expected, but the Bulldogs were able to gain the ascendancy in the moments that mattered.
“Yeah, their goal-kicking wasn’t up to scratch and we converted I think all of ours, which obviously helped in the end,” he said. “But credit to Boorowa, they really came out of the blocks on the weekend and just surprised us, they were really up for the challenge.
“It was just a tight, intense battle until there was 15 [or] 20 [minutes] to go in that second half.”
As for whether or not the win has given the side increased confidence or momentum going into their clash against Binalong this weekend, the side they lost to in the final competition round, Buttriss said “not really”.
“We’ve got to roll into this week with the same game plan that we had on the weekend,” he said. “Obviously I won’t go into too much detail, but we just want to play a simple game, and yeah, just make sure that those efforts are there for each other.”
“For Binalong, they’ll be looking to bounce back after the weekend and after playing us last weekend there and giving us a bit of a hiding.
“They’re probably a bit more on the confident side this week, so hopefully we come in as underdogs.”
Speaking on standout performers for the Bulldogs, Buttriss said that one of the side’s star halves was crucial in gaining the positive result.
“Jacob Maher really stood up on the weekend, our five-eighth, he scored a couple of tries and stood up when we really needed someone to,” he said. “Our forwards were [also] really good on the weekend, and one of our wingers sort of got us out of our own end really well as well in Beratabua Biutisuva.”
Bullettes Set To Play Hawks Fo GF Spot
Meanwhile, the Bullettes also tasted success in their first week matchup, defeating Crookwell 14-10 at Binalong on Saturday. Maddison Gillies, Andie McTavish and Piper Scott were the three try scorers for the Cootamundra side as they held off a determined Green Devils outfit to claim a crucial victory.
The win now sees the Bullettes face their perennial rivals in the Harden Hawkettes at Bungendore on Saturday in the Major Semi Final. Kickoff in that game is at 1:00pm, to be followed by the Men’s Major Semi between Bungendore and Harden. The Bulldogs’ game begins at 2:30pm in Binalong.
The Times caught up with Bullettes Coach Lauren Connell after the Bullettes defeated Crookwell on Saturday. The game was close with a 14-8 scoreline.
Lauren said, “Maddie Gillies scored first and Piper Scott scored last.
“Halftime it was 6-0 with us getting the first one and converting it. “Unfortunately we missed two conversions. Coota had the right to feel somewhat confident going in to the match.
Lauren said, “Everyone was pretty positive, which was good, but we also knew that Crookwell are a very good side as well and we knew it was going to be tough, so we just had to show up and be ready to play on the day.”
“Crookwell finished up third on the ladder and we were second, so they will get a second chance against Binalong and that puts them through to the loser of this week’s game and we will be taking on the Hawkettes.
“We probably slacked off a little bit defensively and in attack, hence why they came pretty close with us at 10-8 for a fair chunk of the back end of the second half and then we scored a try with about three minutes to go.
The ladies will now have the unenviable task of heading to Bungendore to face the Hawkettes away and while Harden are beatable have been strengthened by the return of some of their stars, while their male counterparts will be in Brahman country.
Go The Bulldogs and Bullettes!