The West Belconnen Warriors have kept their title defence alive with a narrow 12-10 win over the Yass Magpies at Walker Park on Saturday afternoon.
A late try to Tori Freeman-Quay secured the result for the Warriors as they snatched the two competition points with a spirited performance in miserable conditions.
Yass opened the scoring early in the second half when five-eighth Steve Naughton decided to run the ball from 30 metres out on the last tackle.
Having caught the Warriors defence off guard, Naughton initially escaped the Warriors defenders before offloading the ball which was subsequently kicked into the in goal for Yass winger, Jesse Collins.
The Magpies almost had a second try when Jai Smith sprinted down the touchline but West Belconnen five-eighth Bobby Roberts bundled him out of touch.
A tense period of play followed where neither team looked likely to score but the Warriors slowly grabbed the ascendency.
Sam Finnegan darted from dummy-half to get over the line but couldn’t ground the ball.
However, Cameron Scott scored in the left corner on the verge of halftime to send the teams into the shed with scores locked at 6-6.
Jesse Collins gave Yass the lead midway through the second half with his second try of the afternoon. With the light fading, Magpies centre Willie Peace drew in two defenders before managing to offload to Collins who gathered the ball to score.
Shaun Davis missed the conversion from the touchline meaning that the Magpies held only a four point lead.
With momentum firmly in Yass’ favour, Peace ran close to the tryline but three Warriors defenders managed to bundle him into touch.
Brilliance from West Belconnen captain Ryan McQueen leveled the scores as the halfback troubled the Yass defence before passing to Tori Freeman-Quay who scored.
With only ten minutes left in the match, Bobby Roberts slotted the conversion to give the Warriors a two point lead.
As the clock wound down, Yass tried desperately to score but a big hit from Freeman-Quay ensured the ball came loose to give the Warriors the win.
West Belconnen Warriors 12 (Tries: C Scott, T Freeman-Quay; Goals: R Roberts 2) d
Yass Magpies 10 (Tries: J Collins 2; Goals: S Davis)
Man of the Match: Tori Freeman-Quay More:
http://websites.sportstg.com/assoc_page.cgi?client=7-1084-0-0-0&sID=13485&&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=57222982
Topic: CRRL: CRC Match Report: Warriors Title Defence Alive
