The last round of touch football for 2015 was held last Thursday, with a break to come over Christmas and New Year. Any good work fitness wise over these past weeks will probably be undone during this period, especially in the case of yours truly, through overly enthusiastic celebrations over the break.
It was a sausage-fest in the game between the Binalong Bangers and Kennett Rural, with the Bangers running in five tries to Kennett’s one. Corey McCoy supplied Kennett’s only try for the young team, who do well to match it up with the much older teams in the competition. J. Sykes ran in the first try for the Bangers, which opened the floodgates for them. M. Giles followed with two tries, with L. Oldfield (pictured), and J. Woodhead running in the remainder. The Bangers won the game 11 points to 2.
Jordan Menz’s uncanny ability to find the try-line was not enough to halt the charge of the Light Horse Hotel, who scored four tries to Delta’s two to seal victory. Jordan was the first to cross the line, with Billy Bolger following suit for Delta. But the Light Horsemen were unstoppable, with Emma James snaring a double. Riley Manwaring and Jayke Hogan added four extra points to the Light Horse total to put the game beyond any doubt. The game finished 8 points to 5.
The Hotel Binalong Boozers narrowly missed ending up in the Electrical Septics’ cistern of defeat with a one-point victory. B. O’Mara scored the first try of the game for the Boozers, with the extra point making all of the difference. Molly and Max Spackman scored a try each for the Electric Septics, with the master and former apprentice combination of Paul Shea and Clinton Stevens crossing the line for one each. M. Brayshaw contributed two points to the Boozers total, with Dylan Arabin crossing twice. The Boozers stumbled over for a 9 points to 8 win.
It was a family affair for the Jugiong Jackasses, with the Polimenis and Brookers scoring most of the points in their 15-12 victory over Fit ‘n Well. Lui Polimeni crossed both first and twice for Jugiong, with his brother Joey following suit with one. Not be outdone, the ‘Godfather’ of Jugiong, Gino Polimeni, crossed for one of his own to ensure the bragging rights at the dinner table were more evenly distributed. The same can also be said for the Brooker family, with Jim Brooker scoring one to match it with Annie, who is always a handful close to the line. Steve Magnone, however, proved to be the only outlier for Jugiong when he contributed two points to the Jackasses total. The impressive ball skills and line running of Matt Peisley and the incredible speed and agility of Ian Mergard threatened Jugiong’s family soirée, as Matt crossed for one try and Ian scored an incredible five tries. But their efforts only just fell short, with Fit ‘n Well going down by three points.
With hair that matched his shirt, Matthew Schofield crossed first for the Retro Café in its 7 points to 2 victory over Twomeys Wii Not Fit. M. Smith put up some resistance by penetrating the red wall of defence put up by the Retro Café, but other than that, it was all the latter’s way. Darren Prosser crossed over for a try for the Retro Café, along with former Murrumburrah Public School Captain, Hayley Chesworth.
Unlike their ‘Dodgeball’ namesakes, Average Joe’s have been dominant from the start in this competition. They also don’t have someone who thinks they’re a pirate in their team, which is rather disappointing. Blake McGrath opened up the scoring for Average Joe’s in their game against the Garangula Grizzlies, followed by a troika of tries to Sam Cross, and two each to Alex Ryan and Patrick Smith. Shanny McCullagh crossed for a try of his own, as did a mysterious and enigmatic figure, who is only referred to as ‘15’. Not to be outdone, the Grizzlies unleashed their own mysterious and enigmatic player, so mysterious in fact that they were given neither a name nor a number. Whoever it was crossed in response to ‘15’, and was joined on the scoreboard by Zallie Quinn. In the end, Average Joe’s defeated the Grizzlies 21 to 4.
In the continuing battle against carbohydrates and calories, DPM Fitness encountered a setback by being defeated by Jackson’s Bakery. The pie-makers trounced the fitness fanatics 11 points to 6, with Danny Flanery reliving his Country Cockatoos days by crossing over first for Jackson’s. Star Wars fanatic Jamie Cantrill channelled his excitement at seeing the new Star Wars film the following morning into a try. Jamie and Twin Town Times Editor Matthew Stadtmiller dressed up as Yoda and Chewbacca for the film screening. It was the first time anyone had seen a 6 foot 5 Yoda. Harrison Hadlee translated his record breaking antics of 2015 into a try of his own, as did Olivia Howe and I. Flanery. DPM Fitness did offer some resistance, with tries to James Houghton, Molly Fredericks and Jonah Potts. Alas, it was not enough, with victory going to Jackson’s Bakery.
The Harden Pharmacy Red Devil’s unleashed hell on the The Originals in a 13 points to 0 drubbing. J. Lenehan crossed first to open the gates for the Devil’s, who promptly began the onslaught of tries. P. Lenehan scored three, with B. Cavanagh, Graham Martin-Dye and Toby Hayden scoring one apiece. Hopefully, success like this for Red Devil’s can be replicated by their namesakes on the Rugby Union field in 2016.
It was an all Minehan show in the point scoring for Demondrille Merinos, who defeated Hard ‘n Fit 15 points to 10. Marylou Minehan scored not only first but twice, with young Joseph Minehan, visiting from Pennsylvania, running in three tries. Bridie Minehan and Matty Minehan crossed for one each to round out the points for Demondrille. Hard ‘n Fit put up a good fight, with Chris Hocking crossing three times to confirm himself as a sporting jack of all trades. Mother and daughter duo Mellissa and Hunter Ings contributed the remaining two tries for Hard ‘n Fit, but they were unable to stop the Minehans with victory going to Demondrille.
The young team of Hard Rock Gym 2, under the guidance of Leanne Byrne and Brian Innes, were unable to stop the high school students of Got the Runs, who ran in 12 tries to Hard Rock 2’s three. Johnathon Nicholls and Jared Innes ran in one each for the Gym, and Joie Whybrow showed why he was the recipient of the Sportsman of the Year award at Trinity when he scored one of his own. But four tries to Tom Foster, two to Martin Brown, another two to Jeff Brown, a double to Tara McGrath-West and one to Dan Cowden will be setting Got the Runs up for a likely A-Grade placement. The final score was 25 to 6.
ABC Freighters overloaded themselves with points to crush the Carrington Crusaders, but luckily, there were no Mermaids at Roberts Park to issue a fine. As the game was all on a first name basis, May ran in the first try of the game, and scored another one in addition. Joe bagged himself a triple, with Sam, Blake and Cara contributing one each. Unfortunately for Michael of the Carrington Crusaders, a disallowed try prevented any points being recorded for them. ABC Freighters 17, Carrington Crusaders 0.
It was a very close game indeed between Hard Rock Gym 1 and Thompson’s Rural, with that all-important first try making all the difference. Two tries each were scored by both teams, with J. Ryan and B. Glover crossing for Thompson’s Rural. Stuart Watts and Duncan Stewart both crossed for Hard Rock Gym, and, luckily, Duncan was the first try scorer for the match. Hard Rock Gym 1 snatched victory over Thompson’s Rural 5 points to 4.
The lair and flare of the highly photogenic Romani Wranglers proved too much for the young team of Robert Scott Electrical. The sparkies crossed three times in the match, with tries going to Kai Steele, Hannah Madden and Kaleb Madden. But those crazy Prop Forwards struck again, with the dog whisperer Ben Coster crossing twice and the goose-stepping Charlie Butt following suit for the Wranglers. Harry Bunt scored the remaining try for Romani, who defeated Robert Scott Electrical 11 points to 6.
It was another close match between the Young Guns and the GTH Hornets, with that all-important three-point try making the difference yet again. Both teams scored five tries each, with Gabe Anthony, Bayley Pennell and Tykieta Leitner scoring one each. Ty Leitner, the grandson of 1983 Weissel Medal winner Peter Leitner, showed his good genetics by bagging a double. Regan Manton and Oscar Forsyth provided two tries to the Young Guns total, with Jesse Manwaring scoring a triple. Luckily for the Young Guns, Jesse crossed first, and the Young Guns posted a one-point victory over the GTH Hornets 11 points to 10.
The competition will resume next month, and the Twin Town Times wishes everyone all the best for the break and hopes that everyone stays safe. It has been way too fun uploading embarrassing images to Facebook, and we want to continue doing so again in the New Year. Have a Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.
Pictured: Luke Oldfield with the ball for the Binalong Bangers.
