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THE Bega Roosters were tickled pink on Sunday, not only by their charity pink jerseys, but also taking four-from-four against the Cooma Stallions.
If there was any doubt the first grade rugby league Roosters are a force to be reckoned with, it is long gone after the home side surged to a 52-4 win.
Other matches, too, had a favourable result for the Bega club, with the league-tag Chicks defeating the Cooma Fillies 8-4.
Meanwhile, for many spectators, the reserve grade clash was the match of the day, with the Roosters clinching a two-point win 24-22.
In the under 18s, the Roosters had another strong showing to win 26-14 over the Cooma Colts.
The main event was a spectacle of fitness and tenacity, as the Roosters set about proving their readiness for finals time.
Early possession fluctuated end-to-end, but the Roosters were making solid metres.
First grade captain-coach Ryan Apps made an excellent run up the centre and offloaded to Blake Robinson.
Robinson dummied right, stepped left and got the better of three Cooma defenders to slam the ball down just wide of the posts.
Minutes later a sweeping left-hand play saw James Bower-Scott kick a little grubber that looked like it was going too deep.
However, it bounced favourably and a Cooma defender was forced to try and bat the ball dead, but Adam Blacka dived on it to post the second try and open a good lead.
Cooma consolidated its efforts and play reached Bega’s end on successive sets, but solid grouping saw the Stallions’ raids denied.
After an excellent set by the Roosters, play was back in their attacking half.
Billy Hudson threw himself into the thick of things to crash through a pack of defenders under the post.
The crowd stood up and roared as the team flocked to congratulate Hudson on his solid run.
Bega’s score was quickly scaling, while the Stallions remained scoreless.
As Robinson nailed the conversion the word was being spread that only two minutes remained in the first half.
However, the Roosters weren’t done as Ryan Apps broke through the line.
He stumbled after an ankle tap, but speedster Craig Matthews ran in as support, grabbed the Apps offload and charged a 50-metre solo effort to plant another try.
The halftime siren sounded and the score already showed 22-0 in favour of the home team.
The Roosters had plenty of momentum when play resumed and were quick to score again.
Possession for the Stallions was limited as the Roosters dominated play.
The tries were shared among the hard-hitting Roosters, too.
Scott and Larry Fuller, Apps and Scott Ingram all added a try each to the tally.
Meanwhile, Robinson and Blacka added a second to their names.
Bower-Scott nailed three goals, while Robinson cleared two and Blacka added one to the scoreboard.
Cooma could only muster one unconverted try through Murray Jackson.
The siren sounded and the scoreboard read 52-4.
In the earlier reserve grade clash, Andrew Aldridge led the Roosters to victory.
The Stallions held a two-point lead at halftime 12-10, but the Roosters fought back valiantly in the second period of play.
Tries to Aldridge and Matthew Grant saw the Roosters back in contention.
And at full-time it was the difference of a conversion kick that separated the two teams.
Meanwhile, the league-tag Bega Chicks have confirmed their place at the top of the ladder.
In their first clash with the Cooma Fillies since the Chicks outdid them in last year’s grand final, Bega was on the war path.
Georgina Clark scored early for the Fillies and they held the lead 4-0 for a tense period.
However, the Chicks equalised and then took the lead through tries to Bronty Burhop and Georgina Pearce.
The final score was 8-4 to the Chicks.