The Gorillas have retained the Red Cross Charity Shield after downing the Parkes Boars in a tight contest on Saturday. In a game that could’ve gone either way, it was the home side that took advantage of a few key moments to run out 18-10 winners.
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The first half was a real arm wrestle with Gorillas forward pack muscling up at scrum time, while the Boars backline was playing with plenty of width and pace. First points came through a Dylan Ryan penalty goal before George Hancock showed his sublime skills to set-up Tim Saunders for the first try of the match and have the scores at 8-0. Hancock chipped the ball through for himself, regathered and then fired a bullet left-to-right pass for his flying winger Saunders.
Parkes hit back with a well worked try before Jono Sharkey was on the end of some fantastic leadup work from Tim Allworth and Craig Campbell. Sharkey was left one-on-one with the fullback before turning him inside out to score in the corner. It was a tough, blustery day for the goal kickers and the score remained 13-5 at halftime.
The scrum dominance for the Gorillas continued in the second half, and the Boars were showing plenty of flair in their broken field running. Parkes were able to narrow the gap to just three points after a deft chip kick found a rampaging second rower floating on the wing and it looked as though another grandstand finish between the sides was inevitable.
With the game in the balance, Allworth took a quick tap inside his own half linking beautifully with Sam McLeod who was able to break into the clear. Mcleod then found a rampaging Sharkey before he was brought down metres from the try line, however the ever present Craig Campbell was in support to score the Gorillas third try and give them some breathing space.
Best on Ground for Narromine were Jono Sharkey, Tim Allworth and George Hancock, with Sam McLeod, Craig Campbell and Tim Saunders also putting in strong performances.
Narromine 18 (Tim Saunders, Jono Sharkey, Craig Campbell Tries; Dylan Ryan Pen) Def. Parkes 10
In the second-grade fixture the Gorillas turned a 14-10 halftime lead into 31-10 victory.
Strong performances by Luke Brown, Jack Neill and Liam Gleeson in the forwards and Doug Potter, Strath Munro and Jonny Robertson in the backs.
Narromine 31 (Luke Brown 2, Doug Potter, Dan Barry, Lachlan McCutcheon Tries; Strath Munro 3 Conv.) Def. Parkes 10
Under 17s also played at Cale Oval on Saturday and scored an impressive victory against the Dubbo Kangaroos (blue) 52-3. This is a very talented young group of rugby players and well worth the early arrival time at the ground.
