The Midwest Community Cup rugby league competition kicked off last Saturday in perfect conditions at Wallerawang sportsground. Initially set down for Kremer Park, the games were changed to Wallerawang without public notice.
A full round of two matches was played between the four participating clubs in front of a very large audience, Carcoar Crows played Blackheath, and Portland Colts against Kandos Waratahs in the second game.
The first match resulted in a surprisingly high score by Blackheath Black Cats, 60 points to 12 over Carcoar.
All clubs had players from varied backgrounds but the in-form Black Cats were mainly comprised of those from the Blackheath umbrella area.
They had a mix of older, experienced players along with their juniors, and they put together a formidable team that completely overwhelmed the Carcoar side made up of individuals from Blayney, Cowra and Carcoar, all with strong Carcoar ties.
Despite the high score, it was an enjoyable contest, and the Crows will be stronger for their first run.
In the later game, the Portland Colts, also thrown together with disparate players from Lithgow, Wallerawang and Portland, were up against a side from Kandos, also comprising players from outside the town but basically from close to the township.
The result was a 26-20 win for the Waratahs who scored five tries to the Colts’ four, but Portland’s better goalkicking kept the scores close.
The first half of the game saw domination by Kandos, running up 20 points against one unconverted try by Portland.
However, the second half was a complete turnaround as the Colts came back with three tries to equalise at 20 points each.
It was a game that should have been put away earlier when Portland were reduced to 11 players, but with two men down the Colts were still able to force the Waratahs to dig deep to collect the win.
In the earlier leaguetag games Blackheath were 28 to 22 winners over Carcoar, and Kandos came away with a 36-24 win over Portland.
Blackheath will host this weekend’s games, commencing with the first leaguetag match at midday.
WESTERN WOMEN’S RUGBY LEAGUE
Results from round 2 of the WWRL indicate last year’s premiers Panorama Platypi will find stiff opposition from the other sides to retain their title.
The Bathurst club was beaten in the round 2 game by Orange’s Vipers 32-26.
The Goannas took the premiership lead with their 34-24 defeat of Castlereagh, and Woodbridge were victors over Lachlan District 38-8.
This weekend, in round 3, Bathurst’s Platypi play their first home game against Woodbridge, Castlereagh are at home to Mudgee Dragons, and Lachlan District host Vipers.
Still-unbeaten Goannas have the bye.
Pictured: Kandos Waratahs’ Tyron Reynolds confronts former Lithgow Workers’ player Corey Wilmott in Portland colours
