Campbelltown City Kangaroos and Oakdale Workers couldn’t be split on Friday night at Campbelltown Stadium, sharing the premiership points after the 12-12 draw. Camden defeated Mittagong 36-12 at Kirkham Park while Narellan Jets pipped the Roosters 38-34 at Thirlmere Sportsground. But the standout team from round 15 were the Oaks Tigers, whose late season surge continued after they thumped Moss Vale Dragons 50-10 on Sunday afternoon, reports MIKE SHEAN.
The Tigers have won two matches in less than a week, after disposing of Appin on Wednesday night, forcing their way to the edge of the Top Five.
Yesterday at Dudley Chesham Oval, despite a strong breeze which made play difficult for both sides, the Tigers well and truly growled.
Brayden Goulding, who ended up with a hat-trick, opened the scoring for the home side.
Big Ross Brown, who made plenty of work for the Moss Vale defence, crossed for his first try after 19 minutes, after a short ball saw the prop score from close range.
Tigers captain coach Mitchell Brasington, who also bagged a double, scored his first 15 minutes before halftime, after getting a rebound from a kick on the last tackle.
Dragons counterpart Robbie Payne added some respect to the scoreline on the half hour, when he ran a crash ball from close to the Tigers line to open the visitors’ account.
Shortly before halftime Dragons halfback Jesse Dee worked his way through some soft Tigers defence to bridge the gap to 16-10 in favour of the locals, which became the halftime score.
The Tigers came out firing in the second half, but it took over 15 minutes to cross the line, with Michael Brasington running on to a nice ball to score and extend the lead for the home side.
Brown bagged a second shortly after, this time from a short ball, and Goulding took his try tally to two after completing a nice piece of play to score in the left corner.
When Mitchell Brasington scored a solo try almost immediately after the Goulding try, the Tigers’ lead had extended to 38-10 with 10 minutes left.
Hamish Oxley added his name to the scoring list with seven minutes remaining, and Goulding completed his hat trick just before fulltime to help the home side reached the half century mark.
Speaking after the game, Mitchell Brasington said he was delighted with the result.
But he did admit his side needed to keep winning to have any chance of playing finals football this year.
“We need to keep focusing on each week’s match and not concern themselves with other results or possible scenarios in the coming three weeks,’’ he said.
Brasington said the team needs to work on completions, with their rate not being the best despite the heavy win on Sunday.
He nominated Brown and Isaac Wojewojdka as being among the better Oakes performers.
RESULTS:
First Grade – Oakdale Workers 12 Campbelltown City Kangaroos 12;
The Oaks Tigers 50 Moss Vale Dragons 10;
Camden Rams 36 Mittagong Lions 12;
Thirlmere Roosters 34 Narellan Jets 38.
Ladder – Picton, Camden 28; Appin 15; Narellan, Mittagong 14; The Oaks, Moss Vale 13; Campbelltown City 10; Thirlmere 9; Oakdale 6
Reserve Grade:
Oakdale 18 Campbelltown City 22;
The Oaks 30 Moss Vale 14;
Camden 28 Mittagong 10;
Thirlmere 6 Narellan 54.
Ladder – Picton 26; Camden 23; Campbelltown City 21; Narellan, Oakdale 20; Thirlmere 12; Appin 10; Mittagong 7; The Oaks 6; Moss Vale 3
Under 18 (1):
Camden 20 Campbelltown City 34;
Thirlmere 12 Narellan 40.
Under 18 (2):
Camden Rams Red 18 Mittagong 34;
Campbelltown City 24 The Oaks 16.
Second Division:
Bargo Bunnies 4 Mt Annan Knights 50;
Bowral Blues 8 Narellan Jets Blue 20;
Robertson Spuddies 20 Narellan Jets White 22.
NEXT WEEK First grade – home teams listed first:
Saturday – Oakdale Workers (10) vs Thirlmere Roosters (9) (5.30pm – Sid Sharpe Oval, Oakdale);
Sunday – Campbelltown City (8) vs Camden Rams (2) (Campbelltown Stadium);
Mittagong Lions (5) vs The Oaks Tigers (6) (Mittagong Sportsground);
Narellan Jets (4) vs Appin Dogs (3) (Narellan Sportsground);
Picton Magpies (1) vs Moss Vale Dragons (7) (Victoria Park, Picton).
