MOREE was given a scare by Barraba but pulled it together in the second half to sneak home at Weebolla Oval on Saturday.
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The Rams came out charging and led 17-nil at one stage and 24-7 at half-time.
But the home side responded with 24 unanswered points in the second half to eke out a 31-24 win.
In front of a small crowd due to the Moree Picnic Races, the Weebolla Bulls were slow out of the barrier.
A slick Barraba backline found some early space out wide, opening their account early with a try.
This was quickly followed by a further two tries as the visitors jumped out to a handy lead.
Moree showed a glimpse of their ability to string multiple phases together, which led to a well-constructed try to Alex Corliss. But further unforced errors and poor discipline allowed Barraba back down into the Moree half, where they scored again to take a 24 -7 lead into the half time break.
Following some honest words at half time, a motivated Moree team struck back through Benn Legg, who showed a clean set of heels stepping inside the full back to score.
While Moree continued to make simple handling errors, they managed to dominate field position into a strong head wind, building pressure on a tiring Barraba side.
A strong run from Matthew Wannan led to Henry Noble shrugging off two Barraba defenders to close the deficit to 24 – 19. Moree continued their momentum with Maciu Latubua returning from a stint on the bench to put the Bull’s noses in front for the first time in the match.
Dave Silversides busted open the Barraba defence to score the game clincher as the Weebolla Bulls took control of the game down the home straight. 24 unanswered points in the second half was enough for the Bulls to take the win 31 – 24 with a crucial bonus point.
Moree Prop Luther Williams was happy with the team’s effort. “It was really disappointing to go down to the early lead, but the character and composure shown after half time to work our way back into the match was really pleasing,” Bulls coach Simon Hall said. “Our back three of Heath Riggs, Benn Legg and James Houston all had big games, especially bringing the ball back into the wind in the second half.”
Matt Wannan put together another outstanding performance named Moree’s best on ground with Reece Manning and Benn Legg closely behind.