Paddy Cameron makes two photos in today’s edition. Coota and TTT. He is here sending Harden’s Pierce Martin back to where he came from in Saturday’s clash.
The Harden Red Devils finally overcame the Coota Tricolours after suffering two defeats at the hands of their cross town rivals in 2024. The win couldn’t have come at a more important time for Harden, as it was in the first game of the finals and now gives the Devils a chance to play Boorowa on Saturday at Boorowa, for the chance to face the Young Yabbies at Cranfield Oval the following week, to see who will be crowned the winner of the South West competition. It’s one game at a time for the Jack Alcorn led men who are following their leader’s example and getting behind him. Alcorn’s head currently looks like a ‘dropped pie’, something his mother is not impressed with, but it won’t stop the big second rower from leading from the front. He has developed in to a good coach who knows his team well. He is yet to hit his prime playing days and the best is still to come. Harden had a number of standouts on the weekend, including Ed McGeoch, Jeremy Martin, Tom Lenehan and Joe Stewart at the back, to name a few. Jarrod Keelan took an Aussie Rules inspired mark off the kick off to regain possession for Harden and the Devils went up a notch on Saturday, inspired by Alcorn and Charlie Brown who many are referring to as the best player in the competition. And they could very well be right. Brown has plenty of years in front of him, but one suspects that NSW Country selection has to be on the cards in the next two to three seasons. Up 19-0 at half time and up 24-0 just after, the Devils didn’t stop attacking but they did have to contend with a strong Coota outfit which kept coming at them all game. The Tricolours are too proud a team to lie down.
Alcorn said, “One of our biggest focusses was to come out and play like we can play without giving them the chance to get on the front foot and it certainly made them stand back a bit and we were able to get three tries before half time, which was a big bonus for us. Oliver Fairfield-Smith scored the first try, he gamely played on with an injury and it’s hoped he will be fine for this weekend. Tom Lenehan had the kicking boots on, but struck the upright when going for a penalty kick resulting in players from both sides scrambling to get the ball.
Alcorn said, “Fifteen minutes into the second half they scored a try as a few of our boys started to get a little bit tired and they had some of their fast stepping lads come in and step their way through a scattered defence. “It was a matter of we know that we do have a team that can get through and win these finals games if we do turn up and play. If we keep working away and sticking to our game plan, that is what is going to win us games and hopefully we can keep pushing it through to this week as well.
There was a huge crowd at Boorowa for the league and the union, but much of the crowd was watching the Union as it was a finals game. It was a pretty willing encounter and both sides will be sore and Young will get a week off and will host the grand final for the second time in three years.
Alcorn said “We won last time against Boorowa. It was mainly down to the way we came out of the gates and came out without any doubt that we needed to get in and score those first few tries and not let them get their head in the game, because once they get their head in the game with a bit of confidence, they are very hard to stop.
“Joe Stewart at fullback and Charlie Brown as he always is, had an absolute blinder. Ed McGeoch played on the wing and came into outside centre after Ollie injured himself.
“Jeremy Martin played well as did the Smith boys. The whole front row played well. It’s definitely something we will be working on this week as we know Boorowa’s good in their scrums.
“The line outs went well for us, but the scrums need a bit of work. We will work on that through this week. It will be a big focus for next week if we can get our own scrums, that’s a good start.
“For us going in and scoring that first try in the second half we did lapse a little bit in our concentration, which you can’t do when you get to finals, but it is easy to do once you are up by 20 plus points. A quick lapse let them score two tries in fifteen minutes. It’s something you can’t do and we need to work on having that full 80 minutes fighting it out like we did against Young last week. Alcorn and the Devils were satisfied to put an end to Coota’s season with a strong rivalry developing over the last few years.
“Everyone is very happy with it. It was something that was talked about in our pre-games that we had at least one game that we should have won, but was due to our own issues that we lost.
“We needed to get in there and turn on and score points and it was good to get a win over them. “I think we will be very similar to what we were this week.
“The girls got beaten by Temora and will play in Boorowa against Grenfell this week. It will be another tough one for them. Final Score 24-12. Kick off: Saturday, Boorowa v Harden at Boorowa 3:15pm. PHOTOS ON FACEBOOK.
