John Fitzgerald
The Blackheath Blackcats made it stylish back-to-back Mid West Community Cup premierships with a 20-0 shutout of the Carcoar Crows at Don Bradman Oval in Blackheath last weekend.
The first grade final between the two undefeated teams this season was the feature of a six-match gala day, including the women’s League Tag decider between Rockley Bulls and the Blackheath Blackcats.
Unlike the men, the women were locked at 6-6 at the halftime break and 10-10, when the whistle sounded. Not even 20 minutes of extra time could unearth a winner although Rockley’s Renee Newstead came close with a field goal just drifting wide of the uprights.
A decision was made to engrave both club names as joint-winners on the 2024 premiership trophy.
It was a different story in the Blackcats-Crows match with four tries scored by the hosts.
The forwards engaged in heavy contact as the teams sorted themselves out early, while trying to find some supremacy.
After the game became more settled Blackheath’s Elias Dukes scored with a conversion by skipper Greg Alderson for a 6-0 lead.
The Crows competed strongly but Blackcats held early possession for longer periods, which began to stretch and tire the Carcoar defence. Then a few errors began to creep in with fatigue.
Repeat sets for Blackheath and better field position led to two tries for a 14-0 lead late in the game.
Within the shadows of full-time Alderson scored and converted his own four-pointer for the final 20-0 scoreline and the Man of the Match award.
The victory moves the Blackheath Blackcats – now with 10 titles - a little closer to Carcoar’s record of 13 premierships over a 70-year stretch. And that included a period of nearly three decades where they did not compete in the Mid West Cup. Carcaor last held the trophy in 2022.
Other League Tag results from the day were Kandos Tiaratahs coming from two points down in the first half to defeat Wallerawang 20-12, and Portland Fillies winning a closely-fought contest 18-16 over Carcoar.
Other first grade games resulted in a 42-16 win by Woodstock over Kandos, and a 16-12 win to Rockley in their match against Portland despite a late comeback by the Colts.
