Harden’s Justin Stewart has his hair rearanged for the Hawks on Saturday in their 36-6 win over Bungendore.
The George Tooke Shield RL Match between Harden Hawks and Bungendore had been called off on three occasions, due to boggy grounds and inclement weather, down in their little neck of the woods. The Ghost of Lake George can’t be blamed, just mother nature. On Saturday however, the weather was a classic contradiction when Bungendore Tigers arrived at our Holies Of Holies—McLean Oval Harden.
The dark clouds had rolled away to reveal blue skies and the accompanying beautiful sunshine. The referees whistle signalled the HARDEN HAWKS to put boot to ball, and the much to the delight of the big crowd ,the much awaited clash was on. BUNGENDORE bungled the kick-off knocking on from the outset. Possibly trying a bit hard from the word go, both teams were guilty of early handling errors. A scrum was set 20m out from the Tigers line, and in the blink of an eye, with a Hawks win, the ball went out to Nathan Schofield. Schoie scooted through a yawning gap to dive over in a very handy position for Harden’s first try. (6-0) Next it was Bungendore who were their own worst enemy throwing a few high tackles, and Harden were getting the advantage. Harden then threw a forward pass. Both teams now, after just 12 minutes were finding it hard to settle down. The Tigers soon attacked but on the final tackle kicked the ball dead.
From the re- commencement at the 20m line, Centre Justin Stewart was thrown the ball, and he made a 50m burst down field. The ball was passed to Matt McLay and then on to our Winger Chris Salway who touched down wide out, for a scoreline of 10-0. Another Hawks try loomed when Riley Manwaring winged his way over in the Tuck-shop corner.
This was followed by another great flowing movement where Captain Luke Brown put Harden further in front at half-time 22-0, with his try. Harden Hawks took a while to
re-focus after the break, allowing Bungendore to score a converted try after just 5 minutes. But soon after, Matt McLay applied more pressure crossing for one of his specials before you could say ‘Pokemon Go” making it 26-6. Some Bungendore players were getting frustrated with one receiving his second Sin-Bin orders and an early shower. Rhett Forman,delivered a handy blow when one of his thundering tackles jolted the ball loose and from the resultant scrum, Hawks bustling forward Simon Snedden charged over for a well deserved try.
Harden Hawk’s motors were still ticking over in the shadows of the post (So to Speak) when winger Josh Quinn raced down the western touchline before grubbering infield for Jayson Smith to re-gather and score between the sticks. This was the icing on the cake, making the final score HAWKS 36 Bungendore 6. There are just two matches remaining. One against Crookwell next SUNDAY down there, and finally the Aust. Defence Force Academy at Harden.
