The Tumut Blues emerged triumphant 34-28 over a gallant Albury Thunder in a thrilling Group 9 Round Eight contest at Greenfield Park last weekend.
The match was frantic from start to finish with 11 tries scored in a contest dominated by momentum swings.
Tumut, showing their determination, quickly took the lead 4-0 in the first few minutes, with Zac Treglown's try setting the tone for the game.
Both the Blues and Thunder were happy to throw the ball around, with Albury maintaining the pressure and through some Lachy Munro magic moved the Thunder in front 6-4.
The clever fullback sliced through the Tumut defence and despite being eventually met by a trio of defenders, he found a way to ground the ball. Keanau Wighton made no mistake with the conversion.
Following points Albury forced a repeat set, but Tumut held firm before eventually turning defence into attack.
With their tail up after a penalty Tumut swung the ball right again, where Mal Aitken (pictured above: Photo Jeff Hanson) put Treglown over for his second for the Blues to regain the lead (10-6).
Tumut made a mistake from the kick-off and Albury was again gifted a big chance at points. But the home side failed to deliver from close to the line eventually handing over possession cheaply.
Tumut’s ill-discipline caught up with them, with the Thunder finally scoring again via lock Jeremy Wiscombe, who charged over to the right of the posts.
Wighton converted and the lead changed again Albury up 12-10 after 21 minutes.
Blake Grounds had Albury on a roll after points with the hooker making good metres up Tumut’s middle.
The home side played some attractive attacking Rugby League with the ball in hand and a right-side shift was finished off by Jackins Olams, who strolled through a big gap on Tumut’s left edge.
Wighton again converted, and the Thunder were ahead 18-10.
As the first half drew to a closey, Albury had every chance to go further ahead, only to be stopped by a Jordy Anderson’s one-on-one strip.
On the back of this, Tumut scored via Billy Bridgeman with the conversion on the siren, meaning the Blues only trailed the Thunder 18-16 at the break.
Tumut quickly asserted their dominance in the second half via big men Zac Masters and Matt Byatt, who frequently made it past the advantage line.
The visitors’ next try came about due to good forward teamwork, with Masters charging into the Albury line on the last tackle getting a one-handed offload to a trailing Lewis Arragon, who crossed to the right of the posts (22-18).
Tumut continued to apply the pressure, leading to an excellent try on the right edge.
Both Masters and Chris Hartshorn got the ball to Trae King, who put Treglown into space before the winger passed back inside to King to score under the black dot (28-18).
Albury wasn’t done though, and they fought back to level the score.
They initially hit via Wiscombe, who made a break, and it was Carpenter who made up for some earlier errors when crashing over on the left edge.
The home side then levelled the score via a terrific team try.
Paul Karaitiana kicked behind the Tumut line for Sabastian Nelson, who regathered the ball before quickly passing to Andrew Bonetti, who crossed on the left edge for his first four-pointer in top grade.
Jacob Toppin was missed and scores were tied up at 28-all after 71 minutes.
The match-winner was scored by Aitken, who ran 65 metres to put Tumut ahead in the 75th minute. The talented fullback split Albury’s line and evaded multiple defenders to cross to the right of the posts.
Toppin put the exclamation mark on Tumut’s 34-28 victory.
In other Round Eight Group 9 fixtures, Gundagai was too strong for Wagga Brothers at Anzac Park, winning 42-18; Young held off the Wagga Kangaroos at McDonald’s Park, with the Cherrypickers getting up 22-18.
Southcity also made their intentions known, winning their fourth game on the trot when defeating Temora 26-22 at Nixon Park.
Click here for the Group 9 tables, draws, and results.
