That’s how the showdown between the Gordon Highlanders and Binalong Brahmans finished on Saturday.

The holders of the George Tooke Shield wooden spoon were already at a disadvantage before they tackled the reigning premiers. Their unlikely task was made impossible, however, when a frustrated Highlanders coach Jason Bennett realised he had just nine players at his disposal.

To their credit, the Highlanders carried on with business. What followed resembled a training run for the Brahmans and included no fewer than 23 kick-offs from Gordon.

“Once they got to 100, they dropped a player off after each try,” Bennett, who could at least see some humour in the result, said.

“It’s unfortunate for the seven or eight blokes who come each week, they’re keen as mustard.

“We registered something like 32 players at the start of the year, 10 of those have played only one game. That’s part of our problem,” he said.

Binalong supporters spent time post match discussing which of the feats was more noteworthy: the fact the Brahmans amassed 132 points or that their goal-kicker landed 22 conversions from 22 attempts.

“He kicked them from all over the place,” Bennett said.

“He’d come in from the sideline and I’d think ‘ah, he’ll miss the one’. Sure enough he’d kick it over.”

A lack of players isn’t just a headache for the coach. Should the Gordon Highlanders continue to play undermanned and maintain their reputation as the competition’s whipping boys, their status in the Canberra Region Rugby League may come under scrutiny.

“The biggest concern with those sort of score lines is they run the risk of turning their players away,” CRRL Executive Officer Karen Ebsworth said.

“We haven’t had any correspondents from the club asking for help and we haven’t had any complaints from other clubs. But if they continue I’m sure [Gordon’s future] will be an issue we’ll discuss later in the year,” she said.

In order to field a team in any senior division of the capital region competition, a club must affiliate itself with a team in the Canberra Raiders Cup. In the Gordon Highlanders case, a partnership with the Goulburn Workers Bulldogs made sense.

As part of the arrangement, players from the Bulldogs are able to exchange their white and yellow jersey for the royal blue of the Highlanders.

A dreadful season, in which in the Highlanders have scored on average four points per game and conceded 76.4, makes a possible commitment from the Bulldogs reserve grade team, who this weekend has the bye, important.

“I said to Jason at the start of the year, we’d be more than willing to give them assistance,” Goulburn Workers Bulldogs president Dale Godber said.

“I’ll put it to the players: if anyone wants to have a game this weekend, they’re welcome to have a run with Gordon. It’s up to the players.”

Any potential conjecture over the Highlanders future could be nipped in the bud with a win on Sunday, something more likely than recent results suggest.

Gordon is set to host the ADFA Knights, the only other team in the George Tooke Shield competition yet to win a game.

A win will almost certainly mean the Highlanders can pass on the wooden spoon, a dreaded tag they’ve worn since establishment in 2008.