THE Holy Family team has gone one better than it managed last season in claiming the Bathurst round of the annual David Peachey Shield competition for Year 5-6 students staged at the Sportsground and Morse Park on Tuesday.
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A year earlier, Holy Family were bested in the decider by The Assumption School in a relatively one-sided contest.
This time around they faced a team comprised of players from both Kelso Public and South Bathurst Public, and the result was up in the air until the final moments of the contest.
“It was a good game. In the end, Holy Family took it out three tries to two but there was never much in it,” Australian Rugby League development officer Mick Armstrong said.
“Kelso/South Bathurst made a bit of a break right at the end of the game that could have levelled it up but they were pulled down just before the line.”
Both finalists will go on to the Central West finals of the competition to be held in Dubbo on June 29, at Apex Oval. Holy Family made it to within a win of the semi-finals at the Central West gala day last year.
The school will also have a representative in the next round of the Russell Richardson Cup for Year 3-4 students, after a titanic struggle in the final of that competition on Tuesday.
They took on The Assumption School and in a brilliant attacking display, both sides finished the match locked up at six tries apiece, forcing them into extra-time.
“We played another 10 minutes of extra-time but we still couldn’t separate them,” Armstrong said. “In the end we just declared dual winners. They both deserved it and they’d already secured their spot in Dubbo anyway so it was the best decision we could make I think.
“It is hard to tell how they are going to go at the next level because you don’t get to see all the other teams beforehand but I think the Bathurst sides are always pretty strong and the standard of footy this week was high. I think they can all be pretty confident that they will do well.”
In last year’s Richardson Cup, Holy Family made it all the way to the decider in Dubbo before being outpointed by St Joseph’s from Gilgandra in the final.