On the back of a devastating fall against CSU Bathurst last week, the Mudgee Wombats came out firing in round 13 of the 2019 Holland Cup to claim a 54-15 win over Parkes on Saturday.
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Braving the chilly conditions, the home side took to the field with a streak of confidence having already beaten the opposition twice in previous rounds.
Mudgee's Scott Hedrick kicked off the scoring early in the match for the Batties, which was followed by a Brian O'Reilly conversion.
A penalty kick to Parkes combined with a try of their own wasn't enough to give a half-time lead for the visitors with David Jessiman, Lachlan Winstone and Ben Robson placing down their own sets of five, all converted by O'Reilly, to give the red and navy a crucial lead.
After the break, Hedrick clocked his second try of the day, converted by O'Reilly, minutes after returning to the field, while another try to Parkes followed.
Jessiman and captain, Tom Dunstan scored the final two tries of the match awarding themselves with a 54-15 victory.
"We got away to a good start and actually stuck to our structure, we got on the front foot and were able to put some points on the board which is always a positive," Dunstan said.
While happy to walk away with a win, Dunstan admits that for the numbers of players Parkes arrived with and to dismiss an opportunity to shorten the game, their field presence was 'really good to see'.
"They stayed in there the whole time, and with the option to play a shorter game, they wanted to play the full 80, it was really good to see," he said.
"It's a long way to travel so with 15 men, they had an absolutely cracking game."
Up against Dubbo next week at Apex Oval, Dustan says his side are feeling confident but have a few 'little things' to tighten up.
"We throw a lot of 50/50 passes which we can definitely try to take out of our games. It's just those little things that we can get out to have a stronger game," he said.
"We just really want to keep building towards the final series. We take each game as it comes, hopefully we can just keep building."
- MUDGEE 54 (Scott Hedrick 2, David Jessiman 2, Ben Robson, Tom Dunstan, Lachlan Winstone tries; Brian O'Reilly 6 conversions) def PARKES 15