This was the first time Blayney had visited Cale Oval and the 200km roadtrip proved a tough one despite the Rams winning the earlier second grade fixture 28-26 with a conversion after the fulltime siren.

With a strong southerly breeze at their backs, the Gorillas started powerfully, scoring two tries in the first 10 minutes through Mick Harris and Charlie Tuck, who are making a habit of getting on the scoresheet this season.

Using the wind to gain a territorial advantage, the Gorillas then went about dismantling the Rams at the set-piece, with their scrum dominant once again. Jono Sharkey was at his sniping best, burrowing over to score from the back of a five-metre scrum.

Tim Allworth then helped himself to a first half double through his superb support play, and the halftime score read 33-0. With the benefit of the wind at their backs, Blayney were able to gain some handy field position early in their second half through the booming right foot of flyhalf Cameron Hobby. However, the Gorillas kept finding answers and the points kept coming.

Replacement Mitch Rixon showed his impact off the bench by forcing his way over the line with a number of Blayney defenders in tow. Making his run-on debut in first grade, winger Matt Bullock finished the game strongly, picking up two tries with some good footwork and support.

The win was set-up by the Gorillas pack, with Sam McLeod and Craig Campbell leading the way with some strong carries, and the front-row of Keith Maher, Dave Weir and Charlie Tuck were clinical at scrum time.

The nine-ten combination between Jono Sharkey and George Hancock was again pretty to watch and is continuing to get better as the season goes on. Doug Potter kicked beautifully as usual, slotting six from eight in tough conditions.

Narromine Gorillas 53 (Tim Allworth 2, Matt Bullock 2, Mick Harris, Charlie Tuck, Jono Sharkey, Mitch Rixon Tries; Doug Potter 6 Conv) Def Blayney Rams 0.

Second grade tasted defeat for the first time this season against a very strong and committed Blayney Rams outfit. With a depleted bench and a host of injuries, the Gorillas were unable to hold out against the fast finishing Rams who scored on the buzzer to level the scores. The conversion to win the game scraped in off the right hand upright to give the Rams a memorable victory.

Craig Duff was enormous this week for the Gorillas, scoring two tries and having a hand in everything. He was well supported by workhorses Jack Neill and Liam Gleeson.

The Gorillas will now enjoy a week off with a general bye over the June long weekend before returning to Cale Oval on June 16 to face the Dubbo Rhinos on our annual “Ladies Day”. For more details, please visit the Facebook page or the website.

-by Michael Harris

Coonamble raced Saturday, June 2: Due to his high ranking as a jockey Greg Ryan rides a lot of favourites in races however he was successful on $26 outsider Corry Bridge for local trainer Cec Hodgson at Coonamble TAB meeting on Saturday.

From back in the field, Corry Bridge produced a strong finish to beat Flying Comet (Jake Hull, $3.60) and Club Town ( Courtney Van Der Werf, $2.05 favourite ) in the (1600 metres) Liberty rural Class 1 & Maiden Plate. The runner-up Flying Comet is prepared by Damien Lane formerly from Coonamble and  now a successful trainer at Wyong. 

Greg Ryan had earlier won the Local Liquor two year old Maiden Handicap ( 1100 metres ) on impressive debut maker Bedtime Stories ( $1.45 fav.) which will now be aimed at the prestigious Silver Goblet at Dubbo by trainer Darren Hyde.

Security Code, winner of the inaugural $50,000 Picnic Championship at Dubbo last September, was back in form to win the Onsite Fuel rural Benchmark 55 Handicap (1400 metres) for Nyngan trainer Rodney Robb and the owners Wayne Casey (Nyngan) and Ray Riley (Gilgandra).

Landing some substantial bets, Security Code ($10), well ridden by Parkes jockey Michael Hackett, came from near last early to beat Smart Attire (Ken Dunbar, $4.80) and Bel Attrait ( Kath Bell-Pitomac, $7).

Bathurst raced Sunday, June 3: Jenny Duggan, who won the prestigious Bathurst Toyota Gold Nugget two year old Handicap ( 1100 metres ) on Jolen Jolen at Bathurst on Sunday, has an intriguing background. Then known as Jenny Lindgren she rode winners in her homeland Sweden before coming to Australia and winning premierships as a jockey on the Picnic circuit.

After joining the professional ranks as an apprentice Jenny rode a lot of winners before a long time on the sidelines with serious injury. Married to former jockey Ben Duggan and the mother of two young children Jenny Duggan recently resumed her jockey career as a mature age apprentice.

Trained at Hawkesbury by Scott Singleton, Jolen Jolen ($12) led most of the way to win the Gold Nugget from Onsettling Down (Patrick Scorse ($7) and Hot As Hell ( Grant Buckley, $2.80 favourite).

Bathurst based apprentice Jamie Gibbons produced a skilful ride to win the 1300 metres Rural Bin Service Maiden Handicap (1300 metres) on the Craig Weeding, Hawkesbury trained Chekkapen.

In the big field, Chekkapen was near last early and when making ground encountered heavy traffic turning for home. Gibbons found clear running for his mount and Chekkapen ($5) flashed home to beat All The Wine (Alena Skerritt, $4.80) and One Eye Watching (Kath Bell-Pitomac, $20).

-by Colin Hodges.