The Harden Red Devils have suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of the Cootamundra Tri Colours 27-19.
The top of the table clash was almost certain to be a physical match up and it didn’t disappoint.
The Devils looked to continue their dominance when halfback Judd Kerrison crossed the line after claiming an intercept in the fifth minute of the game.
Their fellow hyphenates the Harden-Murrumburrah Hawks had it the other way, 40 kilometres away, as the Bulldogs crossed first against them in the George Tooke Shield.
The sides who scored first went on to loose their respective games on Saturday.
The Tri-Colours hit back in the eleventh minute when Cameron Stanley crashed over after Coota strung together a number of phases off a line out about 10 metres out from the Devil’s line.
Hamish Pennington was given a second chance at converting the try after the Devils were too quick at their attempt to charge down the ball.
However Pennington couldn’t capitalise on the second chance, leaving the score at 5 all.
Four minutes later the Devils looked to put a kick down field but were unsuccessful after Pennington charged down the ball to score under the sticks where he then converted his own try.
A recent focus in defence was being paid in dividends for the Tricolours, their line speed and collision forcing a turnover and a break out try in the 18th minute, bringing the score to 12-5 the visitors way.
Coota continued to dominate possession throughout the remainder of the first half. After parking themselves in their attacking zone for sometime, the pressure eventually told as second rower, Matt Berkrey, charged onto a flat ball and crashed over for Coota’s third try of the day, pushing the Colours further ahead at 19-5.
At the halftime break the score remained the same.
The second stanza commenced and the odds looked in the Red Devils favour when they were given great field position after Coota was called offside from the kick off.
The Devils strung phases together and were aided with penalties close to the line but were unable to capitalise after they were penalised for holding the ball.
Coota threw a crooked ball in the line out handing the ball over to the Devils who took the opportunity with both hands as Charlie Brown scored from a great sequence of play.
Ben Lenehan converted the try to bring the Devils within five points, 19-12.
Six minutes later Red Devils Coach Jack O’Connor beat a number of players to run 30 metres to score under the posts.
Ben Lenehan converted the try to tie up the game at 19 all.
Both teams had their opportunities to claim the victory but the Devils made mistakes which Coota then took advantage of.
Tri-Colours fullback Paddy Cameron scored from a line out to give Coota a 24-19 lead after a missed conversion.
In the 65th minute, after some dominant scrummaging and persistent pressure, the Tricolours again scored out wide, once again finding themselves in front, this time 24-19.
The last 15 minutes was a real tussle with a finals feel about it, both sides fighting hard for possession and to land the killer blow.
Coota were given a penalty right on full-time and opted to take the kick which Hamish Pennington converted to finish the game 27-19, the first loss of the season for the Devils.
The Coota backs did a great job shutting down a Devils backline that has so much strike power, while in the forwards, Matt Berkrey and Nemani Leli were massive for the Tri Colours.
Berkrey is making a seamless transition into the forwards, making strong carries and hitting hard in defence with Leli ultra impressive at the back of the scrum and has brought a real X factor to the side.
They were supported well by the hard working Paddy Bennett and ever present Cam Stanley.
Red Devil Captain Jack Alcorn thought the game was as tough as they were expecting.
“We were expecting Coota to be a really tough team, they always put up a good fight and there’s always usually only a couple of points that separate the two of us when we play.”
The Red Devils were trying out a new structure and thought that it was a great effort for first use.
“Our movement around the field was really good. The Devils middle defence was great with Jack saying “They (Coota) didn’t make any breaks through the middle, they only seemed to go around us.”
“We always have to expect a team to come out and give their best and they could get the win if we don’t get in and switch on.”
Jack believes there were no stand out players but that the whole team played well.
“Unfortunately there was a few opportunities that we couldn’t capitalise on but the team played well.”
Coota Coach Mitch Wakeford said, “Cam and I were pleased with the teams performance. We started well, scrummaged well and made the most out of our possession in the first half. As we expected, Harden came back in the 2nd half but what was pleasing to us was we remained patient and trusted that when we got the ball we would be able to get some points. We trusted our process. We did a lot of hard work which we then capitalised on really well. We are always looking to improve. In defence we can definitely tighten a few things up like sharpening up on in attack which we will look to do so in the coming weeks. The team were very pleased after the game. To beat Harden who were previously undefeated, we will take a lot of belief out of that. But at the same time we are well aware that there are plenty of things we need to work on. The game was as I expected. Fast and physical. I knew when we got the lead 19-5 Harden would not go away. That’s exactly what they did, they brought it back to 19-19 in the second half but the pleasing thing was our boys stuck at it when we got some ball, we capitalised on that. Berkrey’s transition into the forwards has been been impressive. He’s picking his moments really well regarding when to be physical and when to use his skills. He has definitely added another dimension to our game.”
“Nemani Leli was massive for the Tri Colours. He was impressive at the back of the scrum. He too made a lot of big carries and has brought a real X factor to the side. They were supported well by the hard working Paddy Bennett and ever present Cam Stanley.”
The Devils will return to Roberts Park on Saturday to take on the Temora Tuskers.
Both the She Devils and Red Devils will play with the She Devils kicking off at 2pm and Red Devils at 3:15pm.
Coota will head to Young to take on the Yabbies on Saturday at 3:15pm,
AB and Tahlia Crane