FORGING a strong first half 20-12 lead was nearly all but thrown away as the Snowy River Bears allowed three quick second half tries to Narooma allowing the visitors back into the game. But regaining composure, followed by two late tries allowed the home to side to eventually win 36-24.

Starting the second half you thought the Bears were set to run away with the game when Nic Marshall ran from inside his own half for a solo effort try in the 42^nd minute to extend the lead 24-12. Lack of concentration though and silly mistakes saw Narooma barge back into contention scoring three consecutive tries from the 51^st to the 59^th minute to level the game at 24 apiece. One try was an embarrassing mix up in the Bears in goal allowing Narooma to pounce on the loose ball. If it were not for poor conversions by the Devils goalkicker on these three occasions, the score could have been beyond reach of the Bears.

Needing to steady the sinking ship, the Bears regrouped with a try to inspirational captain coach Josh Hitchens in the 66^th minute, followed by stalwart Adam Walters in the 69^th. Both converted by Bredon Taueki for a memorable win in front of a large home crowd.

In the sheds after the game Hitchens addressed the players and said “we were battling, we found another gear, we ground our way out of a s..t situation, there were blokes who made mistakes and they head strong and came back and fixed it. It was the next ten efforts that were vital, well done, great win, great win.”

Hooker Tristan Hamilton was at his crafty best, exploiting the defence from dummy half to score the first try in the 7^th minute which was converted. Narooma would soon counterattack and score, but when Liam Rankin showed individual strength and brilliance to score in the corner, the home crowd were cheering aloud.

When Hamilton again left the defence wondering as he scooted in for his second try of the day, the tide was changing as the coastal boys were now battling the Bears momentum. From a 40-20 kick the Bears had good field position inside the opposition 20, and when elusive fullback Dean Wilson weaved and stepped his way over the try line in the 31^st minute it looked like the flood gates were about to open. But a late first half converted try at least gave hope to Narooma, although trailing 20-12 at the break.

The Bears looked strong in the first half, with Hitchens and Rowland Mateyawa taking the ball up strongly on several occasions and the overall defence looked solid with some decisive big hits. Although the second half was sloppy, the effort was there and with fresh legs from the interchange bench, the Bears managed to scrounge the valuable two points.

Hitchens said they were working really hard on not compounding errors, “we’ve got a new call amongst the team about when we make a mistake, it’s called five. Five clinical efforts after that and grind back into it.”

“That’s what we kept saying behind the posts, get some deep breathes and grind our way back into the game. And we did. A few blokes made some mistakes, and they were accountable for their actions and they came back and the next ten efforts they made were clinical and it was really good to watch and we ground our way back into it.

When asked he must have been relieved when he scored what was the winning try, Hitchens said “there is nothing better than getting a meat pie.”

Players Awards

Tristan Hamilton 3 points

Rowland Mateyawa 2 points

Troy Freebody1 point