They may be at opposite ends of the competition ladder, but there was little separating the Narromine Gorillas and Forbes Platypi on Saturday at Cale Oval.
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On a crisp winters day in front of the Narromine sponsors and supporters the Gorillas stuck it to their more fancied opponents before going down 15-29.
Forbes opened the scoring through a penalty kick, which was quickly followed by a penalty kick to Narromines fullback Henry Buttsworth, score 3-3.
The platypi were first to cross the line with a patiently worked try through several pick-and-drive plays. The conversion attempt hit the upright and the score remained 3-8.
Some good running from Craig Campbell and his younger counterpart Angus O’Connor got Narromine on the front foot, while camped on the Forbes line, Luke Brown was able to charge down a clearing kick and regather to score adjacent to the posts. The seemingly unmissable conversion attempt from Strath Munro again collected the upright and we were all square at 8-8.
In the shadows of half-time Forbes were able to score again went to the break with an 15-8 lead.
The chat at half-time was about coming out strong to set the tone for the rest of the game and the Gorillas did just that. From a mid-field scrum just in Gorilla territory, number eight Luke Brown picked up the ball from the base and exploded down the short side. Beating the Forbes flanker for pace, Brown was able to draw the winger and put Jonny Robertson away down the sideline before he cut back off his right foot beating several would be defenders and offloading to a rampaging Bill Rybak who showed great strength to slam it down under the posts for a scintillating set piece try.
The conversion from Buttsworth was successful and the scores were locked 15-15. The Platypi knew they had a game on their hands and they called on their forward pack to wrestle back the ascendancy. Rolling mauls were the order of the day and Forbes were able to make good metres from their line-outs and close in forward runners, leading to their third try. A successful conversion had the Gorillas behind 22-15.
With fifteen minutes left the work rate from the likes of O’connor and Rybak went into overdrive. A dubious yellow card to Brown for a “late” tackle was to be crucial in the context of the match as the Gorillas would have to do it with 14 men. From the ensuing penalty, Forbes were able put the result beyond doubt with their fourth try that also secured the bonus point win.
Final score 15-29 to Forbes. Best and Fairest: 3- Bill Rybak, 2- Angus O’connor (players’ player), 1- Luke Brown. Other Results: 2nd grade L 19-24; Colts W 24-21.