"With finals, it's always 50/50."
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In a bid to keep their season alive, the Mudgee Wombats pulled off their aim of Sunday's game - to claim victory in their 2019 New Holland Agriculture Cup minor semi-final clash against the Blayney Rams.
The Batties put on a dominant display at the Burrow showing just why they earned their semi-final spot.
"We kept putting the pressure on them with our defence, whenever they had the ball we kept them in their 22 and made it hard for them to get out," Mudgee Wombats captain, Tom Dunstan said.
When we had the ball, we were really on the front foot which is good.
- Tom Dunstan
Dunstan says any win at the finals stage is 'important' but admits there are still a few things the side could work on to better their chances against CSU next week.
"A win in the finals is the most important thing, a lot to work on but the most important thing is to win and we did so we get another week of rugby," Dunstan.
We lost a lot of ball on penalties with their players getting on it quickly so we've got to work on getting support and that will bring a lot of fast game play.
Mudgee's Scott Hedrick placed the first five points of the game down all but 20 minutes after kick-off, which was followed by a Brian O'Reilly conversion.
Meanwhile, some 10 minutes later, Matt Roberts dove for his own that was followed by an unsuccessful conversion.
Up until the dying minutes of the first half, the Wombats were leading 12-0 until a penalty kick was awarded to the Rams to bring the half-time score to 12-3.
Not even 10 minutes into the second half, Mudgee disposed of two blayney men thanks to a combination of hard hits.
Harry Lee made an attempt for the try line but was stopped by the Blayney defence pack, but a pass to Dave Jessiman resulted in another five points for the home side.
Moments later, Blayney dove past Roberts to get their first try followed by a conversion, but was backed up by a try to Brodie Leeson and Tom Dunstan each.
Two late tries to Blayney brought the blue outfit close to the top but it was the Wombats who walked away with a 29-20 victory.
- MUDGEE WOMBATS 29 (Scott Hedrick, Matt Roberts, David Jessiman, Brodie Leeson, Tom Dunstan tries; Brian O'Reilly 2 conversions) def BLAYNEY RAMS 20
Jay-Anna Sleeman
Reporter for the Western Advocate. First began as a sports journalist with ACM in 2018 before moving on to cover news and court.
Reporter for the Western Advocate. First began as a sports journalist with ACM in 2018 before moving on to cover news and court.
