The Goulburn Workers Club Dirty Reds notched up their seventh straight win on the frequently difficult Cooma away game, but despite the size of the win (54-12) it was a long way from the side's best performance of the year.
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"It sounds arrogant to say it, but I know we can play a lot better, last week and this week," said first grade coach Ben Pearson.
"It's always tough coming to Cooma to play, but we've got a lot more that we can put on the park. I don't think we've really been able to get back to the standard we were at against RMC and we're playing down to our opposition. I hope that doesn't bite us when we come up against stronger opposition.
The Reds put a lot of points on the board, and denied Cooma many scoring opportunities, but the performance was a bit of a curate's egg - good in parts. Individually, the efforts were there but it was messy didn't come together as a whole.
Where in other matches, Goulburn's structure, handling and defence has intimated opponents, the Reds didn't maintain that same sense of dominance throughout and had to keep re-earning it
Having said that, it was still a win and a sizeable one at that. Goulburn had four tries and 26 points on the board at half-time and never looked in danger of a loss. There were quite a lot of strong individual efforts and performances, it was more a case of the elements not coming together.
The players agreed with Pearson at the break that there was a lot of work to be done on ball handling, defence and cohesion as a whole and urged the side to keep to basics.
Goulburn scored five second half tries but Cooma, to their credit, disregarded the competition ladder and restricted Goulburn's ability to get on a roll and build up momentum.
Hamish McCormack scored two tries in the match and Matt Spratley, who had scored three tries in the preceding second grade game, added another in firsts to make it four tries for the weekend.
After a bunch of games on the road, the Reds return to Poidevin Oval next weekend to take on the formidable Defence Academy.
"We've got ADFA next week, Hall the week after that and we've still got Gungahlin to meet and they've got good form," said coach Pearson.
"I hope we can get up for the big games and get some structure back."
Best and fairest points went to Ben Cheetham (3), Michael McKillop (2), Alec Palmer (1) and Mik Webber 1.
Goulburn 54 (Hamish McCormack 2, Henry Cooper, Michael McKillop, Jackson Reardon, Matt Spratley, Alec Palmer, Jordan Lees tries, Mik Webber7 conversions) bt Cooma 14 (Mathew Cusbert, Daniel Hopkin tries, Damien Roach conversion).
Dirty Twos back in the winner's circle
It's been a few week's between drinks but the Dirty Twos returned to the winner's circle in devastating fashion, notching up a 61-19 win over Cooma.
The last second grade win was back in round two (April 6) against Tuggeranong and a number of the side's performances since then have been within striking distance of a win.
The boys were enthusiastic and hungry for a win and routinely found chinkks in the Cooma defence.
Acme try-sniffer Matt Spratley, who played in the first half of the match, ran in three tries which, added to the try he scored later in first grade has taken his season tally of tries to 14.
The match also marked the swan song for Brandon Courts, who added a further 16 points from eight conversions to his already impressive club tally. In 122 matches, Brandon has scored 544 points (43 tries, 148 conversions and 11 penalty goals) making him the third leading club pointscorer in the post 1990 period.
The Goulburn Rugby Club wishes Brandon well in all his future endeavours and welcomes him back any time he wants to pull on the maroon jumper.
Best and fairest points went to Grant Mooney (3), Brandon Courts (2), Brad Muddiman (1) and Logan Keightley (1). Courts earned the Players' Player award.
Goulburn 61 (Matt Spratley 3, Ben Todkill 2, Grant Mooney, Aidan Greaves, Josh Hannan, Jordan Lees tries, Brandon Courts eight conversions) bt Cooma 19.
Unbreachable Barbarians continue dominant start
The Goulburn/Yass U13 Barbarians continued their sensational start to the season with a 74-0 win over Daramalan at Poidevin Oval.
In three games, the Barbarians have yet to have a point scored against them, maintaining their competition's best attacking and defensive records.
Best and fairest points went to Toby Klem (3), Bryce Carey (2) and Finley Davies (1). Special mentions also to Darcy Cooper and Hayden Collins and Tom Fieldhouse who all had super games.
The Barbarians have next weekend off and then play Trinity in the local derby on June 1.
Goulburn 74 (Toby Klem 4, Bryce Carey 3, Tyrese Pule'anga, Ethan Metz, Darcy Cooper, Tom Fieldhouse, Sam Glover tries, Hayden Collins 3, Bryce Carey 2, Jonah Ryan, Tom Fieldhouse conversions) bt Daramalan 0.
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