Warriors and Bushies draw after nail-biting affair
A late Bayley Graham hattrick has saved the day for the Warriors, after a nailbiting 22-all draw against Tuggeranong.
The West Belconnen Warriors and Tuggeranong Bushrangers could not be separated on Sunday, with Bayley Graham saving the day for the Warriors, locking it up at 22-all in the dying stages.
This round 12 clash could not have gotten any closer, with an Oakley double and a Graham hattrick providing a nail-biting finish.
The Warriors took control of the game early on, with their forward pack asserting dominance as the home side marched down the field with each set.
Bayley Graham got the first points on the board for the Westies thanks to a smart offload by Luke Duffey down the left side. Brandon Withers successfully converted the first try of the day to give the Warriors an early 6-0 lead by the seventh minute.
The Bushies quickly turned things around and got out of first gear as they replied with a try of their own in the 10th minute. Winger Tyler Evans crossed over in the corner thanks to a grubber by Brigham Moeakiola that pierced the Warriors defensive line.
Liam Oakley was unable to convert from the sideline with the Bushies still trailing 4-6 in the 11th minute.
The Bushies didn’t stop there, scoring off the kick-off just seconds later, flipping the momentum completely as Blake Murray and Moeakiola combined to put Oakley under the sticks. Oakley converted to set the score at 10-6 by the 13th minute.
With the home side on the backfoot it was Graham who took matters into his own hands, challenging the Bushies defence with a grubber for Withers the score down the left edge. Withers missed the conversion which left the scoreboard locked up at 10-all by the 25th minute.
In the 29th minute Tuggeranong were awarded a penalty for an illegal strip where they kicked for touch to gain some valuable field position. Just two tackles later Darby Medlyn attacked down the left side, finding Jack Davison on the wing to score.
Oakley converted to give the Bushrangers a 16-10 lead to finish off the half.
It was a back-and-forth start to the second half with both sides threating to score but no avail as the games defence improved drastically.
It wasn’t until the 55th minute that we saw the scoreboard change, with the newly returned Ryan McQueen kicking to thread the needle between three Tuggeranong defenders for Graham to score and complete his double.
Withers converted the try to once again lock up the score at 16-all in the 56th minute.
10 minutes later the Bushies returned the favour, with a quick play-the-ball from Medlyn allowing Oakley to score from dummy half as he quickly burrowed over the chalk to also complete his double.
Oakley converted his own try to give the visitors the lead once more with the score reading 22-16 in the 65th minute.
As fulltime began to approach, it was clear the Warriors were getting desperate with the game slipping away from them.
Westies shifted the ball from side to side, but once again it was the main man Bayley Graham who helped to salvage the game for the home side, scoring a brilliant solo effort try in the 77th minute to complete his hattrick.
Despite the pressure to tie up the game, Withers was confident behind the tee, successfully converting the try to end this nail-biting game in a 22-all draw.
Image by Trisha Sullivan
