The 2016 Harden Red Devils at Yass on Saturday. Alex Pirie, Billy Bolger, Jack Thurkettle, Jim Honner, Toby Spackman, Ben Brady, Matthew Stadtmiller, Toby Hayden, Clint Stevens, Fergus Hall, Royce Kerrison and Ged Davis (President). Front: Jesse Redmond, Corey Pearsall, Jason McGuigan, Ethan Bates, Marcus Ashton, John Manchester, Sam Thurkettle and Adam Perry. Not pictured: Marty Hawker, Kyle Murray, Adam Ceeney.
After a couple of difficult weeks the Harden Red Devils look to be peaking at the right end of the season. They lived to fight another day in the South Coast Monaro Rugby Union Competition. It was a hard fought win over the Yass Rams in the Plate, Minor Semi Final on Saturday at Walker Park. 26-24.
The game was a see-sawing affair with both sides going tit for tat on the scoreboard. The turn around for the Devils may have something to do with the half time scoreline. They went in leading, which is something they have been unable to do for most of the season. After being handed the reins of the side only a week ago, club Vice-President and senior player, Clint Stevens, made some small changes to the Devils side in anticipation of the clash with the Rams. The changes paid dividends with Jesse Redmond shifted from Fullback to Five Eighth and Adam Ceeney from the Backrow to Fullback. Ceeney has played plenty of football during his career and has been used in both positions this year to great effect. His tackling technique needs to be learnt by the majority of the side. Redmond may have found another home after the 18 year old put in a solid performance in both attack and defence. He handled everything thrown at him. The young Devil also showed his skill with the kicking boots in slotting 3 from 4 conversions, which proved the difference in the end.
Jim Honner opened the scoring for the Devils and put them in the lead after a loose pass from a Yass player was kicked through by Honner in to the in goal and dived upon by the classy Back Rower to post the first points. Redmond slotted the conversion to make it 7-0. Yass struck back and the tries continued to flow from both sides. Marcus Ashton put in a powerhouse performance and went in for two disallowed tries before scoring one which the referee recognised.
Ashton was everywhere is attack and his barnstorming runs laid an excellent platform for his other forwards. Jason McGuigan played both Prop and Hooker and the veteran didn’t disappoint. Regular Hooker Ethan Bates played his usual aggressive game and even filled in on the wing for a few minutes to cover the back line. Halfback, John Manchester found his bark and ordered his young troops around the paddock. One of the most experienced players in the side, Manchester will have to keep his young charges in check again this week. Sam Thurkettle played a strong game at Hooker before he injured his left knee and was carried from the field with 15 minutes to go in the match. Englishman, Adam Perry was strong at the breakdown and in defence and kept his opposition Second Rowers honest.
Alex Pirie has suffered plenty of injuries this season but he wasn’t going to let that stop him as he took the field and played his part. Billy Bolger looked after his wing and made plenty of tough tackles during the match. Jack Thurkettle and Clinton Stevens combined to bring plenty of aggro back to the Devils side. Stevens led from the front whilst Thurkettle was everywhere making copybook tackles and running excellent lines at the Yass defence. He scored two crucial tries for the men in red and left his mark on the match. Jim Honner was everywhere as he always is, he backed up his solo try up with plenty of pilfers of the opposition ball and his usual nagging game. They can’t contain the man from Jugiong!
Toby Spackman brought some size in to the front row and continues to improve after overcoming an injury which prevented him from playing during the middle of the season. The starting Second Row of Big Bad Bustling Ben Brady and Toby Hayden tackled themselves to a stand still before getting a well earned rest. Marty Hawker’s athleticism showed itself, with the blonde haired assassin covering plenty of second man plays in defence. Matt Schofield can play anywhere and helped organise his younger team-mates and played his usual solid game. Early in the second half the devils found themselves pinned down on their own line whilst Yass kept peppering them with scrum after scrum.
Matt Stadtmiller decided to break from his position at Blind Side Flanker and pick the ball up from the base of Yass’ scrum to force a penalty, hoping they would take the kick for goal allowing the Devils to restart play down Yass’ end with a kickoff. Unfortunatley the referee awarded Yass a penalty try instead which gave the Rams 7 points instead of the three points Stadtmiller intended. Harden quickly regrouped and scored soon after.
The momentum went the way of the Devils with Marcus Ashton crashing over and Jack Thurkettle claiming his second of two tries. The Devils went to the lead and the team thought Stevens was mad when he ran the ball over the sideline. The clock, however, was running low and when the whistle sounded Harden had won the match 26-24. The Devils went to the middle of the ground and after a long introduction to the team song they belted out one of the best renditions of “Whe’re Harden boys whe’re Harden boys whe’re a long way from home”
In other results, the team everyone loves to hate, Bungendore, beat Taralga 20-15. Ensuring Bungendore go straight in to the Cup Final. Taralga will now play Crookwell after Crookwell snuck home with a scoreline of 11-8 against Jindaybyne. The mountain men of Jindabyne are now out of the competition. In the Plate, major semi final which is played by teams from position 5-8, Boorowa got over the top of Bateman’s Bay in a high scoring affair at Bateman’s Bay 34-31. The Devils will now head to the coast on Saturday to take on the Bay side for a chance to meet Boorowa in the Plate Grand Final on August 13 at Boorowa. Harden’s loss to Boorowa earlier in the season on April 9 went the way of the Goldies 31-19. Harden’s loss to Bateman’s Bay on June 4 went to the Bay 33-17. It’s interesting Harden also lost to Yass on May 7, 20-5 in a game where they were out scored 4 tries to 1. They turned that scoreline around on the weekend and will look to do the same to Bateman’s Bay. Kick off is at 2:30pm.
