RUGBY LEAGUE
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
THEY may have started slowly, but once the Bathurst Panthers under 18s side got warmed up in Sunday’s match against Group 10 rivals Oberon, they dominated at Carrington Park.
Panthers scored 22 unanswered points in the second half to come away with a 26-4 victory.
That onslaught came on the back of a scrappy first half which saw both teams struggling to complete their sets and head to the sheds locked at 4-all.
“They were very flat to say the least,” Panthers manager Stuart Ward said.
“That first half was probably the worst half of football we’ve played this year. It took the boys about 40 minutes to get going.
“Against a better side we would have been in trouble. We were very undisciplined, and while some of the penalties I wasn’t too sure about, a lot of them were for backchat and that’s something we’ll be talking about at training. We can’t afford to give teams a free piggyback up the field like that.
“In the second half the boys started to run in pairs more, especially in the forwards where Ricky Daymond was excellent, and also Brad Ward. Storm Siejka was strong at halfback and Wyatt Nicholson was putting in some good defensive work off the bench.”
While needing a win to ensure they stayed in the top four, the Panthers made a terrible start to the contest.
They conceded three penalties within the first six minutes and the Tigers took advantage as they opened scoring via hooker Caylib Marston.
When Panthers managed to hang onto the ball they did look dangerous, halfback Siejka held up over the line, but all too often they gifted the visitors possession due to their poor discipline.
The penalty count was 8-2 against them for the opening stanza.
Finally, three minutes out from the break, Zac Burke crashed over on the left wing for Panthers to lock the game up at 4-all.
Whatever was said at half-time in the Panthers dressing room clearly worked as six minutes after play resumed, the hosts took the lead as Ricky Daymond scored.
Kara Rotarangi helped push the margin out to 16-4 soon after when he scored on the back of a barnstorming run and from that point onwards, the Panthers dominated.
Bryden Slattery scored an easy try in the left corner while Josh Rivett made the most of a Tigers knock-on to put the final score at 26-4.
BATHURST PANTHERS 26 (Zac Burke, Ricky Daymond, Kara Rotarangi, Josh Rivett, Bryden Slattery tries; Bryden Slattery 3 conversions) defeated OBERON TIGERS 4 (Caylib Marston try)