ST PAT’S were the victim of a major upset on Saturday as a sideline conversion with just minutes to spare handed the Lithgow Workies a 26-24 win at home.
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Wolves’ winger Brent Brogan was the hero when he streaked over to score in the corner to lock up the scores at 24-all with only two minutes left on the clock.
Hooker Jamie Clark, who was having his first kick of the day, converted under pressure to snatch the win away from Pat’s.
Pat’s winger Mick Armstrong said it wasn’t the most memorable of matches, and not just because of the result.
“We started going away from our structure. It was a very scrappy game but they probably made more competitions than us. They slowed up our play the ball well ... We couldn’t complete many of our sets, particularly in the first half,” Armstrong said.
“We’ve been playing bad and winning, this time we played bad and lost. Hopefully the boys can get themselves together for the game against Cowra next week.”
At the start of the game, it looked as if it was going to be a long day for the Wolves when Armstrong streaked down the touchline from the kick-off to score in the first 30 seconds and give his side an early 4-0 lead.
But the Wolves struck back to lock up the scores at 4-all four minutes later before Antonio Ale stepped his way through some tiring defence to score next to the posts not long after and give Pat’s a 10-4 lead.
A period of sustained pressure from the home side saw them cross for two more tries to take a 14-10 to the half-time break.
In a remarkable start to the second half, it was almost a replay of the start of the match when St Pat’s scored virtually from the kick-off as Armstrong went in for his second try to tie up the scores again at 14-all.
But Steve Lang split the Pat’s defence to score and put the Wolves ahead 20-14 following Shannon Rhodes’ conversion.
Then came was a 15-minute horror period for the Wolves and Pat’s made them pay when Joey Coughlan, who had just come on the field, dived over from dummy half to score and the Garry Reilly conversion levelled the scores again.
Repeated Lithgow knock-ons breathed life into the Pat’s attack and fullback Jon Hanscombe’s stepping and line break put his side ahead 24-20 as time ran down.
But with two minutes to go the Workies’ heads went up as Brent Brogan scored to again lock the scores at 24-all.
The conversion that followed condemned Pat’s to an unexpected defeat.
Wolves’ captain Chris Strickland said his team made it difficult for themselves.
“We gave away too many penalties but the boys, as they have all year, fought hard and showed plenty of courage to hang in there,” he said.
“It was great to see the ball go through [for the match-winning conversion] ... It was a much needed win.
“We stopped their forwards up front and that seemed to halt their momentum.”
LITHGOW WORKIES 26 (Shannon Rhodes, Brent Brogan, Zac Jones, Steven Lang, Kyle Willmott tries; Shannon Rhodes 2, Jamie Clark goals) defeated ST PAT’S 24 (Mick Armstrong 2, Jon Hanscombe, Antonio Ale and Joey Coughlan tries; Garry Reilly 2 goals)