Orange Barbarians will be looking to bounce back in a big way when the side hosts the Kandos Waratahs on Saturday, after suffering a big loss to New Era Cup powerhouse Villages United last week.
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Barbarians are still in good shape to feature in the post-season, but thanks to the 48-12 loss to the second-placed Bathurst side they’ve been dragged into a fierce battle for fourth and fifth.
The 36-point loss leaves the Orange side equal on competition points with Portland, although Barbarians do sneak into fourth thanks to points difference.
Although they had their moments of brilliance Barbarians were outclassed by Villages last weekend, the Bathurst side running in nine tries to two.
Alex Knight, Tony Clevin, Jace Hood, Adrian Aveiro, Josh Small, Jason Roche, Dave Smith, Stu Peel and Keelan Crawford all scored for Villages, six of which were converted.
Corey McLean and Travis Donlan scored Barbarians’ four-pointers, Grant Cocks converting both.
Barbarians’ league tag side’s winless campaign continued against Villages, but the eight-point deficit proves there is more than enough reason to hope a victory is just around the corner.
With finals out of the question, a strong finish to the 2017 season will be Barbarians’ priority after matching it, for the most part, with the fifth-placed Bathurst unit. The Orange side lost 12-4.
Barbarians have a chance to take a huge scalp this weekend, Kandos sits third. Both games will be played on Saturday.