Miners win the opening BattleThe Morwell Miners earned the first Premiership points with a tough and thrilling 32-24 win over the never say die East Gippsland Brumbies. By Mark Strini - 1st May 2001 - Back to News Round 1 of Gippsland Rugby League was played at Maryvale Reserve last Sunday, and in beautiful conditions, the strong crowd were treated to a thrilling encounter between the hosting Morwell Miners and the East Gippsland Brumbies in the season opener.
The match started at a frantic pace with both forward packs in particular, testing each other out in the early minutes. With both teams having the first game fumbles, both teams gave up the ball with regular consistency, and it wasn’t until the Miners managed to get some repeat sets in good field position that they opened the scoring after dropped bomb was picked up, and the try was scored under the post. This appeared to give Morwell the edge in confidence as it wasn’t long before they scored a second converted try and opened up a handy 12 point lead. The Brumbies regrouped however and an early mistake by the Miners saw the beginning of the Brumby comeback. Perched within metres of there own line, the Miners managed to hold out the Brumbies for some 3 sets, but it was only a matter of time before the break came. Strong running from the Forwards bought in the Miner defense, and quick hands out wide saw the Brumbies open there account. The remaining minutes of the half saw the Miners cross again to open up another handy lead, only to be closed again by the Brumbies, who again exposed an overlap out wide to score right on the half time bell. At the break it was the Miners 16, the Brumbies 10.
The second half started exactly as the first had. The Miners opened the account with 2 unanswered tries and with the scoreboard reading 26 – 10 early in the half, it had appeared that the flood gates had opened. East Gippsland however had other ideas. Whilst the Miners continued the pressure, the Brumbies lifted a few gears and slowly but surely, they worked there way back into the game. Solid work through there forwards set the platform, and when the ball went wide, there backs took full advantage of there opportunities and with only 10 minutes remaining, the Brumbies had breached the gap to the tune of only 2 points after 3 successive tries. With momentum on there side, the Brumbies threw everything at Morwell and it was some desperate defense that held them out. Morwell managed to force a turnover in the Brumbies own half and with only minutes remaining, found a hole around the ruck area and a scoot from dummy half sealed the win with a try under the posts. Morwell 32, East Gippsland 24.
The second game between Churchill and Traralgon was forfeited by the Gladiators as they had failed to submit registrations to the League by the close of the week. All players in the League must be registered before taking the field, particularly for the purpose of Insurance, and when these were not received, the League had no choice but call off the match.
The Panthers however did take the field, but not against Churchill. The Victorian Country Under 18 team were quick to oblige to a hitout, in preparation for there match against City this weekend. With this team being made up predominately by Gippsland Players, it was a great opportunity for the team to sharpen up for there State Level clash, and for the record, the Under 18’s got home over the Panthers, who like the Under 18’s, were more than happy for the run.
Round 2 will be played at Gaskin Park Churchill this Sunday and we are assured that the hosts will have there registration sagas sorted out. There match against East Gippsland will start the day at 1pm, whilst at 3pm, Traralgon will take on Morwell.
The juniors are far from idle this week, with the Wellington Zone Primary school Gala Day being held this Wednesday at Gutheridge Pde Primary school in Sale, and as mentioned earlier, the Victorian Country U18’s and U15’s will take on there City rivals this weekend at Waverly/Oakleigh. The games will be played on Sunday with the U15’s kicking off at 11.30 am and the U 18’s at 12.30.
Yours in Rugby League - Mark Strini - President.
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: grl@gippslander.com
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