The Lower Clarence Magpies had wins in all three men’s grade last Sunday at Casino which gave them all a chance to play in the finals for 2023.
What a turnaround it has been for the club. I was thrilled to hear Roy and HG heap praise on captain coach Luke Douglas in last Saturdays midday presentation of ‘Bludging on the blindside’. (PS It’s on a podcast)
Sadly, the ladies lost their grand final against Northern United when they went down 16-24. It was a really tight game and no shame in being minor premiers and losing in the final match. The better team won on the day. Magpie supporters (and players) were teased when captain (and our best on the day) Raeyah Kapeen picked up a loose ball on her own 22 to run 80 metres and ‘score’ under the posts with just two minutes to go. Alas it was called back for a knock-on (correctly) and the ‘win’ taken from them. As a former coach myself I could not have accepted that ten of these same players participated in the earlier game of Tag football. Good for the club perhaps, but not good for the team.
Ladies League Tag. The team finished their season off with a victory over their Casino opposition winning 30 – 6. A big thank you to the team for turning up at their home and away games nice and early and also to the coaching team Bob, Sarah & Rhiannon.
Under 18’s. Well, it was one or the other on the day. Whoever won went into the finals. It was a very tight game and was six apiece at halftime. The locals shot themselves in the foot with two professional fouls in the second half. Magpies were down to just two on the bench as Casino were coming back but hung on to win 24-20. Best for Lower were Kennyon Elisaia Thomas at #6 who ‘really held the side together’ according to coach Brendan Randall.
Reserve Grade. What a match. Both sides scored tries off the first set of each half. Magpies added to their early start by leading 10-0 after just ten minutes. In the first half Casino were running stronger but trailed 4-16 at the break. Talisman Magpie, Andrew Kapeen, was controlling the match with deft passes and precise kicking without getting tackled or making a tackle. Magpies tended to sit back in the second half and Casino raced in the first two tries to tie up the match 16 all with just 16 minutes to go. Ryan Binge started to inject himself more and more and scored the sealer with just minutes to go for a 32-16 victory. Whilst their performance was good enough on the day it may not be good enough for finals football.
A Grade. Another good win by the boys to the tune of 36-18 but it was not an impressive performance. It was far too scrappy (both teams) and a real stop-start affair. Again, we coughed up a poor completion rate – only two completed sets in the second half. That needs to be addressed before the finals.
In the first three minutes of the game, we had three penalties and led 6-0. After just ten minutes we led 18-0 following an intercept. People were speaking of the ‘mercy rule’ (lead by 60). Really it all came too ‘easy’, and we didn’t really earn that lead in my opinion. Complacency set in and before we knew it the score was 18 all following a 40/20 and an intercept to the home side. We scored another converted try just on half time to go to the sheds leading 24-18.
To their credit Casino were never out of the game but always looking for the trick play with chip kicks everywhere. Luke Douglas was leading the way again and it became worrying watching him take the first hitup on nearly every set. A good set move off a scrum saw fullback Liam Foster score and he set up the final try with a neat offload to centre Essex.
All three sides have made the finals and the matches will be in Lismore where we take on Northern United who brought out the best 40 minutes of football from the Magpies this year. They will need a repeat of that performance to advance any further.
Col Hennessy