THE Grenfell Goannas hosted The Trundle Boomers in the opening round of the Woodbridge Cup competition, losing in a very entertaining match 40-20, though the game was a lot closer than the scoreline suggests.
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The Boomers got early possession after a mistake and really went to work on the Goannas defence, but Grenfell proved up to the task, repelling their attack for 18 straight tackles.
New recruit Amenayasi Aditagane was making plenty of metres with strong running, while Dave Wood and Brendan Hewen also made good ground.
The Goannas were penalised five times for high shots, shoulder charges and accidental off side. Add to this four dropped balls and Trundle a huge opportunity to score points, which they did when their nippy little half back strolled over for a try.
The conversion was good and the Boomers led 6-nil.
Trundle kept the Goannas at bay after the restart before finally Menna burst onto a pass and crashed over for the try.
Brandon Douglass added the extras and scores were locked up at 6 apiece.
But from there things fell apart for the hosts and Trundle pounced, scoring three quick tries and taking the wind out of the Goannas' sails.
Not long before half time Grenfell's Dave Wood was rewarded for his hard work with a try, but the kick was waved away and Trundle led 24-10.
Things turned for Grenfell in the second stanza.
The ball started to stick, their defence lifted and Trundle struggled to keep Grenfell out of the match.
Menna and Steven Ingram got cleaner ball, giving them more room to move, while young Ethan Simpson went into dummy half and made plenty of ground with his darting runs.
Menna finished off a good back line movement and scored in the corner and, although the kick went wide, Grenfell were back in the match.
But all the extra defence they had to do in the first half was catching up with them, and the Trundle fullback and five-eighth showed their talent, both coming up with tries which were converted for a 36-16 advantage.
Soon after the Goannas made a break down the blind side, and what should have ended in a try went wrong when a bad pass hit the ground and the Trundle winger pounced and raced 90 metres to score the try.
With less than 10 minutes to go Grenfell put in a last-ditch effort that saw a try from Mick Stallard.
The Goannas' Player’s player went to Menna, while a special mention must go out to the boys that stepped up from the 19s and to the fellows that travelled from Wagga to take their place in the side.
Next week Grenfell travel to Young to play Burrangong in what should be a good match.
