The Narromine Gorillas travelled to Cowra for wins in Colts, Seconds and Firsts and were also unbeaten in Thirds for the second consecutive week: is this a first?
The Colts started slowly against the 2006 and 2007 Premiers; and after 13 minutes were on the wrong side of a 3-12 ledger.
However, the boys regrouped and were just two points behind at oranges: 17-19.
The second half belonged to the Gorillas who scored three unanswered tries, running out winners 36-22.
Jarad Brennan’s ball-handling was exemplary; Angus Webb’s work-rate set the pace (a wonderful regain from one kick-off); Dougie Potter blitzed them, with a trifecta of tries (the other two to Kilby and McCutcheon); Mark Kilby kicked four conversions and a penalty goal; while Sam Cochrane’s dogged pursuit and subsequent decking of any opposition player with the ball was non-stop. (Cochrane’s textbook tackling technique is a class act).
Stu Duff got the Premier Seconds rolling with a penalty goal, before a superb individual break by a Cowra player and the resultant conversion saw the home team hit the front: 3-7. Dougie Potter couldn’t break his earlier habit, scoring his fourth try of the day: converted by Duff, Narromine led 10-7 at the break.
An attempted penalty goal by Duff hit the posts, the pill was fumbled by Cowra, then pounced on by the passionate pressuring pursuer: the one-and-only Peter Grech.
Soon after, a lovely pass from James Walsh produced a Duff meat pie; while Walsh himself then scored, with Duff converting these last three tries. Seconds leaked a couple of tries in the second half, with the final score 31-21.
The strong defence of Phil Miles, along with his lineout work, was top-drawer; Sebastian Zumbo was of great assistance in the lineouts; while Ben Staines contributed strongly.
Firsts proved a bit of a hit-and-miss affair, with Narromine cooking up a mix of occasional class, regular sloppy handling and a dash of “how’s your father” defence.
With nothing to lose, the Cowra boys put it to the Gorillas, outscoring them in the second half.
However, for the home side, it was a bridge too far, with Narromine eventually winning 43-29.
The seven tries by the Gorillas were certainly entertaining, particularly the last.
The first went to Greg Wynn fielding a Luke Harding centre-kick; the second to Scott Burgess after good lead-up from Sam Ward and Harding; the third to Harding, handling twice in the movement; the fourth to Craig Campbell, running off Harding; the fifth to Craig Duff backing up the in-form Charlie MacInnes; the sixth to Harding in the corner; while the last resulted from a Luke Brown break, on to Wynn, and finally (after a down-the-centre support sprint of at least 60 metres) to captain Jeremy Brown.
Cowra scored four terrific team tries, involving quality in-depth support.
And now that game is out of the way, the Firsts will need to focus ferociously for this week’s match against Bathurst Bulldogs at Bathurst.