BEGA went down to the Moruya Sharks for the first time this season, 40-26, in Sunday’s major semi-final at Ack Weyman Oval, Moruya.
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The Roosters will now have to play the Cooma Stallions again in a preliminary final to get back in the major showdown.
It was the visiting Bega squad to get the first points on the board through hooker Hayden Parbery.
He scooted 20 metres to score to the right side of the posts, however, the conversion was missed and Bega led 4-nil after seven minutes.
A wobbly kick-off by Dennis Green was left to bounce and it ran away from Bega and forced a line drop out.
The match settled for the next five minutes as each team finished their sets, but none broke through.
After some early attacks, Moruya finally broke through with a one-two play by the Brierley brothers.
Aaron Brierley caught the ball at first receiver and grubbered through.
His brother Caine collected it and drew in the fullback before he passed to Aaron, who carried across a defender to score.
Green converted and Moruya led 6-4 after 15 minutes.
Bega recaptured the lead soon after.
Roosters five-eighth James Bower-Scott dummied on the fifth tackle and ran through the defensive line to score next to the posts.
Converting his own try, Bower-Scott gave the Roosters what would be their final lead of the match.
The return kick saw the Sharks repel the Bega attack as the home side began to lift the intensity.
The Sharks marched up the field from a string of penalties and took a tap from 15 metres out.
Bill Halligan punished the Roosters as he barged off three defenders to score.
Green’s conversion put the Sharks back in front 12-10.
With momentum on their side the Sharks charged down a kick in Bega territory.
A quick regather saw the Sharks pick up a fresh set of six.
However, it only needed one with a backline movement finding Hayden Murray to score in the left corner.
Bega halfback Blake Robinson was denied a try five minutes from the break.
He was tackled on the line and the ref ruled a double movement.
Green converted another try to Caine and Moruya led 24-10 at half-time.
Bega gave fans hope with the first points of the second half.
The Moruya Sharks let a kick bounce and it sat up perfectly for Dillon Aldridge to score in the corner.
Bower-Scott was unfazed by the gusty wind and slotted the side line conversion for a 24-16 score line.
Moruya posted tries to Jake Clarke and Caine picked up his third for Moruya to rally a 34-16 score.
The Roosters gave the home side a late scare after another kick was left to bounce.
Adam Blacka jumped for the bouncing ball and passed to Aldridge, who scored his second in front of the Bega supporters' corner.
Bower-Scott nailed another difficult conversion and Bega trailed 34-22.
Four minutes later Blacka scored his own four-pointer but the kick was missed.
In the shadows of full-time, Clarke had a brace and Green potted his sixth conversion to give Moruya a grand final berth at Bega Recreation Ground on August 16.
Earlier matches were mixed for the Roosters with the league-tag and under 18s sides winning their way through to a grand final spot.
However, the reserves went down in a second period of golden point time.
The Mark Hart Bega Roosters Under 18 side turned on a first half 42-0 point scoring blitz to be the first side into the Group 16 grand final.
The final score was a resounding 66-6 victory over the combined five town Under 18 side.
The young Roosters were methodical in their delivery and showed a vast improvement in their attitude and focus over the full period of the game.
Bega led 6-0 and then off the back of a mobile forward pack gave their opponents no chance in entering into the contest by starving them of possession and putting on set plays that produced sparkling tries.
Zac Cuzner, Connor Carr, Luke Dowdle and Kain Lohan all posted tries.
Off the back of Nathan Curtis at half back and centre Declan Bower-Scott, Jackson Whitby swept across for three tries.
The Roosters will now wait to see who their opponents will be as Moruya and The Combined Five town side face off next week to take on this very good side.
Coach James Scott said: “Everything fell our way on the day and we need to keep our feet firmly on the ground and not get carried away”.
“We dominated possession and should have put points on side with that amount of ball,” Scott said.
Meanwhile, the Bega Chicks caused an upset over the undefeated Narooma She-Devils to gain early entry to the grand final.
In a gripping contest, the Chicks toppled the Narooma winning streak with a 14-8 scoreline.
The Chicks withstood the early field position the She-Devils held in the opening stanza through tenacious tagging.
Then off the back of a penalty found themselves in good attacking field postion.
The Chicks responded with a sweeping play through the hands to winger Olivia Dummett, who stepped her opposite to score out wide.
Bega continued to hold winning field position despite the efforts of Remi Wilton, Jamie-Anne Wright and Tegan Mundy from the Narooma side.
It was Bega that struck again through Kezie Apps off some great play to lead 10-0 at the break.
However, the She-Devils struck back early in the second half, reducing the deficit to 10-4.
Buoyant from their early form, the Chicks again set up a strong play and Apps scored again through hard work by Alliera Bower-Scott.
The Bega side continued to try and extend its lead with Kristina Dummett making good ground up the middle and the side working as a team with some great support play.
Georgina Pearce took an intercept and swept downfield in a great run, but the pace of Narooma fullback Lily Bennett saved the day for the northern side.
The Chicks showed a rare lapse in defence and former Chick Tegan Mundy took advantage to sweep by three defenders and lock in a 14-8 score.
Narooma were coming home strong and a kick chase saw the She Devils promising raid snuffed out by a great save by Kezie Apps.
The Chicks have now secured a grand final spot four years running - since the team’s inception.
Unfortunately the reserves weren’t so lucky, going down in extra time.
A scrum win in the second period of extra time saw the Sharks snap a field goal to break a 20-20 full-time score and sneak past the Roosters into the grand final.
Bega led 6-0 off a rampaging Billy Hudson try, which was converted by Steven Luff.
However, the Roosters paid the price, knocking on from the restart and Lance Nye crossed to score 6-6.
The Sharks were testing the Roosters with some quick shifts as Nye sent the home side to a 16-6 half-time lead.
In a fiery second stanza from 20-6 down, the Roosters dug deep and Jeb White ran a great line to cross next to the posts 20-12.
Sensing a shift in the momentum, the Roosters continued the forward charge and scored a third to be within two points at 20-18.
A late penalty goal had the Roosters level 20-20 before the siren.
Unfortunately, the Sharks put on some desperate defence and the Roosters couldn’t get into goal range in the extra time periods.
The Sharks got just within striking distance to snap a shot through the posts.