The Yass Magpies remain undefeated with a dominating 22-4 win over the Goulburn City Bulldogs in the Katrina Fanning Shield at Walker Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs came out firing in the opening fifteen minutes, muscling up with some great defence and applying pressure on the Yass side. Although, the Magpies demonstrated why they haven’t conceded a point all year, showcasing some great goal-line defence.
The Yass Magpies finally earned themselves some field position and capitalised straight away. Yass backrower Emily Banks managed to get an arm free and offload to Kirsty Hansen who crossed the line in the corner for the first points of the game. Shannon Wright converted an impressive kick from the sideline to gift the home side a 6-0 lead.
Yass kept their foot on the gas pedal and scored a miraculous try in the very next set. Shannon Wright placed a pin-point chip kick for fullback Lucy Prosser to chase through and score in the corner. This extended the Magpies lead to 10-0 over the Bulldogs.
The Magpies took full advantage of another Bulldogs error to score right on the halftime siren. Yass halfback Jenna Cooke attracted the defence and put forward Samara Afele through a gap to score under the posts. Wright made no mistake and further extended the Magpies lead to 16-0 at halftime.
Goulburn turned the tide in the beginning of the second period, defending their line and earning a repeat set through a line dropout.
The Bulldogs capitalised on their opportunity and crossed over in the corner in the opening ten minutes. Goulburn prop Olivia Howe received an unbelievable offload from Ashleigh Deaton to score and edge closer to the 16-4 Yass lead.
Goulburn owned the momentum for the middle third of the second half, throwing everything at Yass in attack and demonstrating some swarming defence. But they couldn’t seem to turn possession into points.
Yass forward Samara Afele charged-down a grubber kick and ran 60 metres before being run down by the Goulburn defence. Yass took advantage and fullback Lucy Prosser proved too quick and ran over to score her second for the afternoon. Wright converted to seal the win for the Yass side, edging out further to a 22-4 lead.
Yass finished off a great 22-4 win over Goulburn and will remain all-alone at the top of the Katrina Fanning Shield ladder. Yass Magpies backrower Emily Banks was awarded the player-of-the-match for her impact on the left-edge in both attack and defence.
Yass Magpies 22 (Tries: Prosser 2, Hansen, Afele; Goals: Wright 3) d Goulburn City Bulldogs 4 (Tries: Howe; Goals: 0)
