Story by: Stewart Wilson

To perhaps overuse the contents of the cliché box It was ‘a game of two halves’ and ‘one that got away’ for the Mudchooks against the Yass Rams at Mick Sherd Oval last Saturday, losing 32-29 after holding a decent lead at the break on one of the club’s biggest days of the year – the Ladies’ Day fundraiser.

Following the Mudchicks’ big win earlier in the day, the Chooks were looking to follow that and for the first half of the game things were looking good for a happy result. Even though the Rams scored first, the Bungendore boys quickly got themselves organised and played well with tries to Will Smith, Kyle Shand, Cameron Faddy and Tom Worman in the first 40 minutes.

Tom Worman also kicked three conversions and despite Yass scoring an unconverted try late in the half, the Chooks led a comfortable 26-10 at the break. The only real concern so far was a fairly leavy penalty count against the Mudchooks.

The second half was a different story. The Yass Rams came out of the shed fired up and clearly determined to fight on. And they did, scoring four tries in the last 40 minutes, their efforts helped considerably by a barrage of penalties against the Chooks as the half wore on. Interestingly, the same thing happened in the Chooks’ game against Braidwood earlier in the season with the same referee.

The last ten minutes were tense, the Rams taking over the lead but the Chooks reclaiming it by two points just four minutes from full time through a Tom Worman penalty goal. A somewhat ironic cheer went up from the home crowd when the Mudchooks were actually awarded a penalty!

These were the Mudchooks’ only points of the half and a couple more decisions against the team in the final moments resulted in the Rams gaining field position and scoring again in the last action of the game to make it 32-29.

Despite the narrow loss the Mudchooks remain third on the table and their first half display in this game indicates a team which is coming together well. Next up is an away game against the Hall Bushrangers at Hall Sportsground next Saturday 22 June, starting at 2.30pm.

Player awards and their sponsors for the Yass match were:
Best and Fairest: Royal Hotel – Kyle Shand (3 points), Tom Worman (2 points), Will Smith (1 point).
Players’ Player: Mint Air Conditioning and Refrigeration – Tom Worman.
Coach’s Player: Bungendore Community Bank – Joe Nagauna.
Chicks’ Pick: MV Panel and Paint – Cameron Faddy.