Christie and Hood Castlereagh Rugby League competition 2019: Trangie Magpies maul Gilgandra Panthers in minor premiership

The Magpies staged a memorable second half comeback to upset the minor premiership hopes of the Gilgandra Panthers last Saturday. Which is something president of the Trangie Magpies, Paul Berry said has helped the club make history.

"It's just good to see that Trangie have cracked something. Some of them boys have made a little bit of history for themselves being the first Trangie side to get in the semis for the Castlereagh cup," he said.

Playing in front of a very healthy crowd on their home ground the Panthers looked well in command going to the sheds with what most would have assumed a match winning lead of 28-6 at half time.

READ ALSO:

In a stunning second half turn around the Magpies fired up, whilst the Panthers fumbled their way through a forty minute display that would not feature on any highlight reel.

From the resumption of play the Trangie seized on a Gilgandra handling error from the kick off and within a minute their hard working front rower Aaron Berry had scored a converted try.

Kurt Beahan then got in the act and scored a rapid fire double and with 25 minutes to go. The Magpies were soaring and the Panthers reeling with the scoreboard reading 28-24 in favour of the home side who were just hanging on.

Four minutes later the assault continued with a Michael Deamer try locking it up at 28-all.

In a rare second half moment the Panthers maintained some degree of ball security and with seventeen minutes to go a try to Ashley Hazelton put the Panthers back in front 32-28.

The Magpies however were not going away and they mounted many an attacking raid throughout the remaining frantic minutes, culminating in a desperate try to their winger Mick Louie with 180 seconds on the clock and quite a remarkable 32-all draw.

The Magpies will head to the minor-semis which will be played at Gulgong this Saturday against the Bull Terriers.

Trangie have played the Terriers twice, drawing with them both times however the president said that following this weeks win the team are confident heading over.

"Anything now is a bonus, anything can happen in semi-final football," Berry said.

"They'll just do exactly what they've been doing they wont change their training.

"Their coach has gelled them together pretty well, and one of their coaches Peter Burns is very experienced in football, he knows what to do and I'm sure he'll have them ready to go Saturday."

Berry said the mix of the team will further strengthen their minor-semi game on Saturday.

"We've got boys from Trangie that play that have never played semi-final football before, so it's something they've achieved now, and then there's fellows from Dubbo and Gilgandra who have played plenty of finals football so I'm sure they'll help calm their nerves and help them go the right way, so it's a good mix between them," he said.

Berry thanked the community, the players and sponsors and encourages everyone to come along to Gulgong to support the team.