The Nyngan Tigers have given their top three hopes a massive boost with a gutsy win over the Forbes Magpies on Sunday.
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The Tigers travelled to Forbes in second place, just one point ahead of the Magpies and also Parkes, so the match was always going to have a big impact on the ladder.
After overcoming early errors, the Tigers went into the half time break leading 10-6 and held on despite a comeback to win 24-16.
It was all square at 16 apiece with 14 minutes to go but Tigers fan favourite Todd Rope got his side in front and then a Robert Gudgeon try made sure of it.
“It probably came down to our attitude and defence,” Nyngan captain-coach Stewart Mills said post-match.
“We made a few mistakes and made it hard on ourselves but we backed our defence.”
It was indeed an impressive defensive effort – at one point the Tigers held out Forbes for 30 straight tackles.
The performance was made all the more remarkable by the fact Nyngan were without four of their regular first grade players.
The quietly-spoken Mills led by example and let his actions do the talking. The rest of the team followed.
Big Tunui Maurangi was powerful once again, adding real grunt to the pack and had a hand in a number of tries as well as scoring one of his own.
We made a few mistakes and made it hard on ourselves but we backed our defence.
- Stewart Mills
Reece Goldsmith and James Fisk were both sharp out of dummy half and got through a mountain of defence.
The win cements the Tigers’ spot in second place (with 17 points) on the Group 11 ladder, while the Magpies (14 points) fell to fourth as a result of the Parkes’ Spacemen (16 points) victory over Dubbo Westside.
While disappointed with not coming up with the two points, Magpies captain Jake Grace said he was happy with the effort.
“The effort was there, but we cost ourselves with errors and penalties at crucial times,” Grace said.
To get back on track he said the defending premiers simply needed to “cut down the errors and the penalties and we’ll be right”.
The Tigers have another difficult test in Round 12 when they head down to Parkes, before hosting the top-of-the-table Dubbo CYMS in Round 14.
Forbes on the other hand will travel to Narromine this weekend, before hosting Parkes.
Further down the ladder, the Narromine Jets jumped to within one point of the fifth-placed Dubbo Macquarie after a win over the Wellington Cowboys.
