THE Moree Boars finished their season with mixed scores on Sunday.
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The ladies league tag played a crucial game against Glen Innes, with the winner advancing to the finals.
Coach, Mark McGrady, said the game was close but the local ladies lost 24-18.
“The girls struggled in the first half to put points on the board and it was 14-6 at half time,” he said.
McGrady said they lifted their game and only two points stood between them and Glen Innes in the last five minutes.
“We were on their line and made a break to score but the ref called it a forward pass and the next thing the girls knew, Glen was on their line and scored right on the buzzer.”
He said if there were five more minutes of the game, the ladies would have come away with the win.
“Linda Smith has been a standout player each week; but she has continually played well and guided the younger girls. Row Chapman scored a crucial try for the girls at one point in the game and Sascha Henderson was another standout,” McGrady said.
He said he was proud of the ladies’ efforts on Sunday, and the course of the whole season, being their debut year.
“At the start of the season the girls said they’d be happy with a couple of wins. They won about eight games a drew a few as well, so they not only surprised themselves but the whole Group 19 competition,” he said.
McGrady paid mention to Linda Smith, Tanya Ryan and Antoinette McGrady for guiding the younger girls throughout the season.
“They’ve set a platform and now it’s about building to make next year’s season bigger and better,” he said.
Vice-president, Mick Fernance, said the Boars’ under 18s side performed well and finished the season hard.
“The boys had nothing to play for and Glen Innes is a strong side, so it was good to see the Boars still giving it a go and fighting until the end. Zach Hauser, Rob Wade and Luke Hobday were standouts on the day,” he said.
The final score for under 18s was 40-16 to Glen Innes.
Fernance deemed the reserve grade game the most entertaining of the day, as they finished the season with a 32-30 win.
“Reserves finished the year off strong and to have a win at their last home game was a big result for them. Toby Politis, Jeremy Ritchie and Rich Smith were standout players on the day,” he said.
“The boys lead 16-6 at half time and in the second half Glen scored to make it 16-12. Right on the bell Glen scored again to make it closer.”
Meanwhile, Fernance said there was a reason behind the Moree A grade side losing 60-10.
“A grade got flogged, but Moree wasn’t playing for anything and Glen had to win the game otherwise they’d drop from second to fourth on the ladder. You could see by the way they played they did not want that to happen,” he said.
Fernance said A grade still put up a fight and tried hard to break through Glen’s defence.
“Adam Rodilossi, Matt Marshall and Tom Ryan played well for A grade on Sunday,” Fernance said.
He said there was a healthy home crowd and believed the committee had the weather to thank for that.
“We have our AGM in the coming weeks and sometime this month we will have our presentation night, but we’ve had an absolutely successful season,” he said.
Fernance thanked the committee and looked forward to seeing some “fresh faces” at the AGM.
“It’s always good to get new people on the committee as there are some loyal and longstanding members who are getting a bit tired and drained.”