Mudgee Dragons | 20

The Mudgee Dragons defeated themselves as much as the Lithgow Workies did yesterday as they recorded their first defeat of the Group 10 season, going down 28-20 at Glen Willow Stadium. 

Lost ball and multiple penalties contributed to the loss for Jack Afamasaga and his side as they failed to hold onto a lead late in the second half. 

“On the field we just killed ourselves, as soon as we started to find our grind we’d turn the ball over or give them a silly penalty,” Afamasaga said. 

“At the end of the day we beat ourselves I thought.”

“Last year and the same thing this year is that we pride ourselves on our defence and that (early period) showed that we were there but not there so to speak. 

“The boys know themselves where we let ourselves down today, they’re old enough to know what those things were without me harping on about it.”

Afamasaga said positives of the game were that the side would improve in the short-term as they get the game time they missed out on the pre-season and that Corin Smith made a successful debut after off-season shoulder surgery. 

Lithgow surprised the home side with a 10m kick-off which they recovered and thanks to a string of penalties the Dragons did not see the ball for the first four minutes.

Workies looked set to score through centre Kierin Croft before desperate defence held up him in goal.

Eventually the dam wall burst and a grubber kick close to the line was cleaned by centre Joel O’Brien to make the score 4-0.

After weathering the early storm the Dragons made the most of only their second time inside the Workies’ 20m as Hartley Sutton received a well-timed offload close to the line.

The conversion to James O’Connell had the home side amazingly in front narrowly.

However, the home side’s ball security continued to be poor as they handed over cheap possession either coming out of their own half or when they were looking to mount an attack.

Tempers flared constantly mid-way through the half as the referee was forced to stop the game several times to maintain order.

Mudgee made the use of yet another penalty as hooker Ben Thompson barged his way over from in close, with the missed conversion seeing the margin edge out to a converted try.

Lithgow second rower Cory Wilmott was given an early half-time break when he was sent to the sin bin for abuse of an official as the home side looked to make the most of the advantage with 10 minutes left in the half.

After another turnover coming out of their half, Mudgee’s defence on their own line slid too quickly as an inside ball opened up a hole for Jonathan Van Veen to stroll through to level the scores.

In a game that was being weighed down with penalties and turnover ball a flash of brilliance from the returning Corin Smith showed why he was the club’s top try scorer last year.

Showcasing his speed and a powerful fend he crashed over in the corner to again help put his side’s noses in front by four.

Andrew Warwicker might have a case to answer at the judiciary this week after being put on report for a lifting tackle in the 53rd minute of the game.

As a result of the ensuing penalty the Workies grabbed the lead when Croft cut through some soft Dragons’ defence on the left edge.

The successful conversion gave the away side a two-point lead.

However that was eliminated thanks to a brilliant counter attacking from from Smith deep in his own in-goal.

He crabbed across the face of the in-goal before sprinting free down the left wing before linking with Tom Lewsley who finished off the length of the field movement to make the score 20-16.

Again the Dragons were the own worst emery as the away side exploited an overlap out wide for winger Nick Young to slide over and eliminate the good work done in the minute earlier by Smith as Workies edged ahead by two.

The final nail in the coffin came as Van Veen plunged over and saluted the crowd in a win over their arch-rival.