Roos make semis in thriller against Bushies

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Roos make semis in thriller against Bushies

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The Queanbeyan Roos won their final round encounter 34-28, thus ascending to the finals at the expense of their opponents the Tuggeranong Bushrangers.

Despite trailing by two points with seconds remaining the Bushrangers had done enough to make the semi finals had the score remained unchanged.

But Tuggeranong didn’t want to enter the finals on the back of a loss, and while chasing victory they spilled the ball with the Roos taking full advantage with five-eighth Travis Robinson kicking the ball ahead for Jordan Macey to score and subsequently maintain the Roos title defence.

Both sides went into the match knowing that a loss would almost certainly end their playoff dream, with the Roos needing to win by at least five-points to secure a finals spot.

Tuggeranong will be lamenting their lost opportunity at playing in the finals especially knowing had they conceded defeat in the dying seconds rather then play risky, adlib football to chase victory they would still be in the premiership hunt.

Despite back-to-back victories to end their 2011 campaign, the Gungahlin Bulls were unable to avoid this season’s wooden spoon.
The Bulls beat Yass 40-24, while West Belconnen Warriors avoided last position beating this year’s minor premiers Belconnen United Scholars 18-16. The Queanbeyan Blues had the bye.

Of the four sides that will contest this year’s finals series only the Roos tasted victory in the final round with the Goulburn Bulldogs going down to the Woden Rams 36-10.

Had the Bulldogs lost by two more points the Bushrangers would have leapfrogged them into the top four.

This year’s Canberra Raiders Cup has been one of the closest in recent memory with only 11 points separating first to last, and three points first to fifth at the completion of the regular season.

In the first week of finals matches, the Scholars and Blues will battle for a spot in the Grand Final with the loser taking on the winner of the Roos versus Bulldogs match a week later. The loser of the later match will bow out of this year’s title race.

Source: Raiders.com.au