From The Sideline. (Round 3)

The late Richie Benaud would have quietly smirked if he was presenting the scores from Quays at 5pm last Saturday with the scoreboard showing scores of Div II 22-7 Women10’s 22-17 Div I 22-22 in our matches v Casuarina.
Leaden skies and a cool soueaster were the order of the day.
Last minute changes and an early injury saw our men’s Div II team off to a slow start, and one could well argue that the match was ‘gone’ after 20 minutes. The match evened out for twenty minutes either side of half time, before fatigue took it’s toll, leading to a well deserved victory to the visitors. Coach Al Barrett gave credit to his inexperienced and small front row, noting that their brave performance lasted throughout the match. He is hopeful that the lessons learnt and experience gained by the team will be absorbed and utilised as the season unfolds.
Unfortunately the women’s fixture commenced in a similar fashion, with the visitors racing to a halftime lead of 22-0. Throughout the first stanza, Casuarina was gifted far too much possession at the breakdown, and we were punished. Coach Paul Davies (Commish) was concerned by the lack of ball security and ‘go forward’ in attack shown by his charges who fought back well in the second half to go down 26-17, despite the clown ( Shawrie) on the scoreboard posting a scoreline of 22-17. He was replaced by 3 young Fijian lads who gave a faultless display numerically for the remainder of the day......watch out Trappa, your days on the Raz Burtonwood are numbered!
I had only seen Casuarina firsts play once, when they pushed Wollongbar to the wire in the 2020 preliminary final at Kyogle Showground. They struck me then as a rugged determined outfit with tough seasoned players from 1-15. Nothing has changed in the last 20 months. A close encounter was on the cards, and both teams slogged it out in what was a hard fought contest, especially in tight and around the ruck bases. Neither team relented, however at halftime, we were looking well placed leading 12-3 and playing the second half with the assistance of a moderate breeze. We looked home at 22-17 with the clock ticking down, when Casuarina scored the equaliser courtesy of some brilliant sniping by their halfback and fortunately for us missed the conversion. Assistant coach Paul Morgan was pleased with the solid 80 minute defensive effort, and Ballina’s set piece play, however was concerned by the lack of discipline on display at times. Our backs at times ‘pushed the pass’ leading to turnovers, however there’s a growing sense of anticipation amongst supporters that things will click into gear, hopefully commencing on Saturday against Wollonbar at HOME!!
We’ve had a relatively favourable start to the season with four home games. The real possibility of only two more home games exists, sheduled for 4th June and 16th July, so let’s get down there on Saturday, grab the points across the board, and send the Pioneers home licking their wounds with dented pride.