Roo Beauty! Kangaroos to meet Blues in grand final

[Renee]

Roo Beauty! Kangaroos to meet Blues in grand final


Queanbeyan Kangaroos centre Lance Wright in full flight on his way to the tryline. Photo: Andrew Johnston

FOR the first time in 24 years, the Queanbeyan Kangaroos will meet the Queanbeyan Blues in the Canberra Raiders Cup grand final.

The dream local derby was finalised earlier this afternoon when the Kangaroos pulled off yet another miracle to defeat the Belconnen Scholars 26-24 in the preliminary final.

The Kangaroos looked dead and buried as the full time siren sounded at Seiffert Oval as former Canberra Raiders first-grader Matt Gafa lined up a conversion with the scores locked at 24-all.

The kick, from almost right in front, was supposed to be a mere formality for the competition’s leading point scorer.

But that didn’t stop the classy five-eighth from spraying the ball past the right hand upright to hand the Kangaroos a gold-plated get out of jail free card.

With the game sent into extra-time, an Aaron Gorrell penalty goal in the 85th minute proved the difference as the Roos went through to their second straight grand final appearance.

It was a heartbreaking result for the Scholars who have finished the past two seasons as minor premiers only to see their premiership dreams ended at the hands of the Kangaroos.

Earlier, the Scholars looked all business as they took a 10-0 lead in to half-time thanks to tries from Shannon McAskill and Chris Thorley.

But it was the Kangaroos who came out firing after the break as the defending premiers rattled off the next 24 points in a 20 minute burst that left Belconnen stunned.

Second rower Nathan Nash got the Roos on the board in the 46th minute after an Aaron Gorrell grubber kick ricocheted fortuitously off the Scholars defence and into the arms of Nash.

There was nothing lucky about the Kangaroos second as Travis Robinson produced a trademark effort six minutes later to force his way over from 15 metres out.

Centre Lance Wright then crashed over from the next set of six for the Kangaroos before replacement hooker Jordan Macey crossed to take the lead out to 24-10 with 18 minutes to play.

Far from securing the result, Macey’s effort sparked the Scholars to chance their arm and the north-Canberra club produced some stunning passages of football to storm back into the match.

13 minutes from fulltime, Thorley pounced on a perfectly weighted grubber to narrow the deficit to eight points before Scholars halfback Bobby Roberts turned the game on its head.

With nothing on, Roberts chipped ahead and regathered before kicking again for Thorley who was on the spot to touch down for his hat-trick.

And Belconnen’s comeback looked to be complete when Keresoma Sione crossed for the Scholars with less than 40 seconds remaining before Gafa’s failed attempt sent the game into extra time.

Source: queanbeyanage.com.au