On Sunday the Bombala Blue Heelers reserve grade team headed to Bega to take on the Moruya Sharks in the first finals round for the Group 16 competition. Both teams were competing for the opportunity to play in the major semi-final next weekend in Moruya.
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The first 10 minutes of football would see some nervous Bombala boys adding to back to back errors that led to an early Moruya try before the Heelers started to settle.
A combination of Kurt Lomas at hooker, offloading to Clay Clear put the first points on the board for the Heelers bringing the score to 6-all.
In the next set Alex Rosten swept across to the right drawing defenders before offloading back inside to a steaming James Coates, who was able to take multiple defenders with him close to the line before flicking a netball like pass over the top to Clay Clear who scored taking the lead to 12-6.
In the 36th minute it was Ben Mooney who was quick to jump on a loose ball from Moruya and muscle his way over for his own four pointer. At half time the Bombala Blue Heelers led 18-6.
From half time things looked positive as the Heelers kicked off and Moruya fumbled the ball giving away field possession to the Heelers. Hard running from Sam Sten and Raymond Kading was well defended by the Moruya team close to their line, but a forceful dart from dummy half by Kurt Lomas saw him score, 24-6.
Moruya capitalised on an easy overlap to score next taking the score to 24-12.
With only two tries in it, everyone was on the edge of their seat as a Bombala player was forced from the field for 10 minutes in the bin due to a professional foul.
Moruya were quick to send the ball wide and expose lack of Bombala numbers scoring again taking the score to a close 24-18.
Some back to back penalties in Bombala’s favour meant they could keep the pressure on the Moruya team but it was the brute strength of Clay Stewart that could not be matched, even with numerous Moruya players hanging off him, he would bang the ball down on the line right in front of the home crowd. The score was taken to 28-18.
With the sin binned player returning to the field the Bombala boys looked sure to take out the win. The combination of Clay Stewart and Ben Mooney out to the right allowed Mooney to cross for his second try. The final score ended 34-18.
Players Player was awarded to James Coates, 3 points went to Clay Clear, 2 points went to Matthew Stone, and 1 point shared between various players – Raymond Kading, Alex Rosten, Ben Mooney and Jackson Standen.
This means that both the Bombala Blue Heelers reserve grade team and Bombala High Heelers Ladies League Tag team will head to Moruya to play on Sunday, August 7 in the major qualifying semi-final. Both teams will take on Bega teams and should both teams win, they will head straight to the grand final.