Bowral Match Report

On Thursday night we had the numbers for three grades, a quick phone call to Bowral confirmed they did too, so three grades it was.

Shamrocks third grade got off to a quick start with an unconverted try early, however Bowral struck back quickly, with a converted one. The game was played at a quick and open pace, the ref. allowed the game to flow. Shamies scored two tries early in the second half to skip away to a good lead. Bowral scored a converted try to close the gap,  Shamies skipped away late in the game.

Full time Shamrocks 39 to Bowral 12

Second grade again got away to a quick start with a try in the corner, Bowral struck straight back. Again, the game was a free flowing affair with both sides scoring regularly. It was 27 to 12 at half time to Shamrocks. Shamies scored quickly early in the second half and skipped out to 39 to 19. Then Bowral started to come back as they pummelled the Shamrocks scrum, 26 then 33, it looked like Bowral would roll over Shamrocks, however Shamies held on. Extra scrum practice this week for 2nd grade.

Full time Shamrocks 39 to Bowral 33

It was bitterly cold and windy by the time first grade kicked off. Shamrocks were running into the wind. Bowral got away to 2 penalty goals and a converted try before Shamrocks scored, an unconverted try. Kicking into the wind was almost impossible, sometimes the ball seemed to curve back on itself. I thought that Shamrocks were playing a very scrappy game, due to the strong head wind. My feeling was that going into the second half Shamrocks had the upper hand, that 13 to 5 was not enough lead for Bowral to defend into the wind. And for the early part of the second half, that proved to be the case, as Shamrocks camped on the Bowral line, scoring a blinder under the post. But then Shamrocks decided to prove that the sloppy and ill-disciplined play was not a result of playing into a strong wind, but a result of ill-discipline. Too many balls went to ground, way too many silly penalties at key moments and pointless un-chased kicks. You could see the attempts to get structure and momentum going, but time and time poor execution and discipline let the game get away.

Full time score Bowral 27 Shamrocks 17 

Despite 1st loosing, and the terrible weather, it was a very successful day, with our annual Ladies day well attended (indoors), with 3 grades getting a run. That’s nearly 100 players getting good rugby time on a Saturday.