We started off shaky with Bombala scoring in the first five minutes. Pretending the first try didn't happen the Redbacks kicked off again and were able to make the big boys from Bombala cough up. A couple of plays and a kick later and John Steele was racing through and brushing off would be defenders to score Braidwood's first points in the corner. Not long after it was the other winger, Pat Bourke, who pinned his ears and moustache back to score in the other corner.

We had heard it through the grapevine that the Bombala forward pack was a big one and the rumours proved to be true. But what the Redbacks lacked in size they made up for in guts with our two youngest Kris Anderson and Jacob Harrison carting the ball up and tackling anything that came their way all day.

Timmy Moffitt was playing well at 5/8 for the first time, sometimes acting like a second back rower, when he wasn't starting off backline plays he was tackling and pilfering the ball like a seasoned pro.

But with our tails up and confidence on high, we lost our inspirational leader in Coey who went off with a dislocated shoulder. He joined Ben Stuart (Shoulder), Jacob Kain (Shoulder) and Terry D'Arcy (Ribs) on the sidelines. So with a bit of a shuffle Jake Bourne moved into the forwards with Matty Pearson taking his place in the centres. Bombala took advantage of our loss of way and scored beside the posts. We were able to convert a couple of penalty kicks when we went back up the field and finished of the half as I said earlier 18-12.

Even with the lead the half time huddle lacked fire, not something you would expect when you are up.

A missed penalty led to a try for Dave Taylor and the Redbacks and if you want to know something that's not true but you should believe it anyway. I meant it. Another missed conversion though proved costly in the end.