Redmen Women Save Club’s Blushes
By Gary Nichols
The Grafton Redmen women’s rugby team saved the blushes of the senior club in a day of near misses.
First and reserve grades both succumbed to the Snappers in games that could have gone either way, but the women were clinical in their 38-7 win.
In first grade Coffs Snappers toughed it out for another come-from-behind victory against the Grafton Redmen on Saturday.
As per previous encounters between the two sides, Grafton raced to a commanding lead early in the match only to witness another late charge from the home side which resulted in a 31-19 win to Snappers.
Starved of possession, Snappers were camped in Grafton’s half mid-way through the second stanza which saw Taj Butcher cross for three late tries to put the result beyond doubt.
Grafton were their own worst enemy at times handing the ball back to the opposition with poor kicking options.
Grafton did however cross for two tries only to be disallowed by the referee.
The reserve grade clash was arguably the best game of the season.
The Grafton Redmen second grade side came agonising close to pulling off the upset of the season against competition leaders Coffs Snappers on Saturday.
Looking dead and buried 10-minutes after the break, Grafton mounted a stirring comeback to come with in a whisker of producing a major boil-over going down 32-31.
The game was however marred by six yellow cards being handed out which impacted the flow of a wonderful game of rugby.
With minutes remaining Grafton looked like snatching victory when they made a break inside Snapper’s half only to receive a dubious penalty against them for a player “palming-off” an opposition defender.
The win sees Snappers still on top of the premiership ladder with Grafton slipping into third place alongside Kempsey and SCU Marlins.
TheGrafton Redmen women’s side were clinical in their 38-7 win over Coffs Harbour Snappers on Saturday.
Grafton ran in six tries as they produced their best performance of the season against second-placed Snappers.
The top-of-the-table Redmen got off to a blistering start scoring two tries with only ten-minutes gone on the clock. Once again Grafton’s gritty defence was a highlight as was their dominance at the breakdown.
The Grafton forwards set the perfect platform for the backs to take full advantage. Shaniqua Williams, Zahlee Kilduff and Emily Loy at the back, were constant threats out wide.
Back-rower Arielle Hackett produced her best game of the season and not far behind were Ash Tibbett and Ade Woods whose defence was first-rate.
