The boys were defending early but like the last couple of games our line was a solid wall and Bermagui were getting frustrated, showing it by making a few mistakes. Things were going great until two of the Allen brothers collided ending with Ferret injuring his neck and Toby injuring his shoulder, hopefully both boys are feeling alright and recover quickly.
After a short break both teams went back at it and with our defence being led by Pat Bourke and Jacob Kain in the backs and Joel Bradley and Callum Coble in the forwards the Redbacks looked solid and started putting their own pressure on, coming close to a try after a great piece of support play rugby started by Nick McGrath.
All was well, we were on the attack and we looked dangerous. Then the unthinkable happened... A man was down. No it wasn't a Redback and no it wasn't a Shark, it was... The Ref. Darren Rowley who succumbed to a calf strain that had been hampering him all game. So with the only official down and out half time was called 7 minutes early, the search began for a replacement. Like all searches, there is a wait... and a wait... and a, ok I think you get the point.
Anyway, while we all waited Nick Black decided to save the day by doing one of the most craziest, stupidest, outstanding acts of sportsmanship a man could ever do, he became the Ref.
So our second half didn't start so well, not because Blacky was a bad ref, in fact he had a great game, but losing our main play maker never bodes well. But the boys fought on and after Bermagui scored a few points we got on the board with Seamus Allen doing some great work to set up Matt Pearson who palmed off one bloke to dive over the line for his first Redback try.
The try fired the boys up a bit and for a while we were putting it to the 2nd placed Sharks, but when Coe left the field with his on going shoulder problem the Redbacks lost their biggest leader and with about 15 minutes to go the Shark put on a couple of tries to seal their win. But to the boys' credit, our heads never dropped, always fighting till the final whistle blew.
In a game where there were stop and starts galore, the Redbacks lost 25-5. A result that really doesn't tell the whole story. Hopefully I told the rest.
Before I go onto points and all that jazz, I would like to thank on behalf of all the Redbacks, YOU, the supporters who came and watched us on the wintry Saturday afternoon.
Righto, points time:
3 points this week went to stalwart Redback man James Royds, for his tireless effort in the forward pack all day.
2 points went to Nathan Moffitt who tackled himself to a standstill. One of the youngest members Moff is already one of the most experienced forwards running around on the paddock.
1 point went to Ben Stuart. After playing Flanker in the first half Benny replaced Blacky at half back at half time and looked comfortable and relaxed in a fairly stressful position. Benny led the boys round well and deserved all the praise he got when the boys also voted him Players Player.
Once again thanks to all the supporters and sponsors, hopefully we will see you again in two weeks when we take on the Bay on the 28th. This week though will see the boys travel down to Ulladulla, a side who can be very competitive on their home swamp, I mean turf...
The Redback Enthusiast
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