Walcha took to the newly named Peter Fenwicke Oval on Saturday with the Reggies needing some results to go their way and A grade looking to lock down a home major semi final in three weeks with the minor premiership.
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Reggies actually looked the best they have since they knocked off ladder leaders Moree and played with great freedom and enterprise, as though the pressure of making the finals had lifted and they just looked to play footy all day.
The result, albeit against an under-strength Scone side was that they ran in tries at will and dominated all facets of the game, keeping spectators warm on the sidelines through constant cheering and applause.
With the final score 81-0, it would be hard to single out too many performances but Charlie Uren's double was about as rare as Rossco scoring a try and Luke Chalker's confusion at what to do as he approached the tryline with ball in hand had everyone sure he was going to attempt a handball rather than a put down.
His tall friend Will Scott couldn't manage to stave off the "nude run" despite all efforts from Lachie Fletcher who gave him the ball with a clear run to the tryline but he's been watching too much of Cordo's catching techniques and only succeeded in batting the ball forwards.
Lachie Fetcher's kicking was on fire and skipper Tom Rose showed he's got at least another 10 seasons in him. Unfortunately for the boys, the news after the game was that results had not gone their way so finals would have to go begging this year, which is a shame given the type of footy they showed they were capable of when they knocked over the top of the ladder twice in three weeks.
Nonetheless, it was a great season for Reggies and special mention should go to Hamish McClaren for coaching better than he trains horses and Andrew Crawford for running water and holidaying just as well. Points were the usual story - 3 and players' player to Wally Davidson, 2 to Sam Colwell and 1 to Angus Davidson. Congrats on a solid season for Reggies and we look forward to the extra lungs on the bench and sidelines as A Grade's premiership tilt heats up.
A Grade were clearly hurting after a poor game last week and early on it showed with Walcha dominating field position and possession. However, Thor Crombie began an awful day for New Zealand rugby as he threw a nice floater straight to his opposite number who raced away and opened the scoring for Scone.
A Grade were clearly hurting after a poor game last week and early on it showed with Walcha dominating field position and possession.
This only fired up the Aussie boys even more, pumping wave after wave into Scone and proving way too much for Scone to handle as Lachie Brown scored the first try then followed three more all to Charlie Keen who's finishing (on the field at least) was first class.
Will Fletcher's passing from the base of the ruck was spot on and Thor Crombie played a solid running game, many thought they may have swapped positions. Lachie Brown was unstoppable in the first half chalking up line breaks and tackle busts at will and the front row had Scone hating scrum time.
Lineouts showed sharp improvement on last week but still some work to do before finals and the backline finished much better than against Gunnedah and the half time score of 45-5 showed that.
The second half saw about 10 minutes lapse in concentration where Scone managed two early tries but Walcha were soon back to basics and through direct running lines from Richie, Mike, Sando and Willis, the backs were allowed plenty of room to move.
Unbelievably, Ross Fletcher did score and Dave Healey loomed up in support only to receive a dummy instead. A pushover scrum had Lachie Brown with only a couple of metres to get his double and some nice bucket sized assistance from Thor Crombie got him over the line.
Tom Bucknell also got a double and Thor got himself a try but the icing on the cake was in the final minutes where a bust straight through the middle from Mike Whitton set up Jimmy in some space and his offload to Dom Bower was brilliant. Dom opted not to go under the posts so he could prove to everyone he could still kick as he nailed the final conversion to round out the 76-24 victory to the Rams - a great warm up for the finals in three weeks' time. Best for Walcha were Richie Hunt with 3 points, Lachie Brown with 2 points and Charlie Keen with 1 point and players' player.
Walcha will host all four major semi finals (U17, U19, Reserve grade and A grade) on August 31 and we look forward to seeing as many supporters there as possible - lock it in your diaries as a win would see Walcha host the grand final for the first time since 2012.