THE Bowra Tigers travelled to Beechwood on Saturday to take on the Lower Macleay Magpies in a do-or-die semi-final clash.
It only took three minutes for Bowra to score the first try of the game, after Jacob Simpson put Leroy Buchanan through a hole to score untouched.
Lower Macleay soon hit back with a try of their own. Bowra regrouped and found themselves back in the Magpies’ red zone.
A freakish offload from Clay Saville put Andrew Blair over the line, who then converted his own try to make the score 12–6.
Bowra’s Ant Thompson made a break, only to be pulled up just short of the line. Jacob Simpson then threw a beautiful cut-out ball to Ty Chapman, who crossed in the corner.
Lower Macleay found themselves a man down after a player was sent to the sin bin, and Bowra capitalised, with Kurt Stennet scoring out wide right on half-time to make it 22–6.
Lower Macleay came out firing in the second half, scoring two quick tries to bring the margin back to just six points.
A little kick from Andrew Blair pinballed off a few players before being pounced on by Hayden Surridge, giving Bowra a crucial 10-point lead.
Bowra would score again shortly after, when speedster Mundarra Caldwell made an incredible 80-metre run to put Clay Saville in under the sticks.
A strong run by Leroy Buchanan, followed by great support play from Clay Saville, would see Clay cross for his second try of the day.
A few poor mistakes from Bowra allowed Lower Macleay to sneak back into the game, but the Tigers held on to come away with the chocolates, 38–26.
For the first time in club history, Bowra will play in a preliminary final. They take on the Lake Cathie Raiders this Saturday at 3pm, with a spot in the big dance on the line.
BOWRA: Tries – Clay Saville 2 / Kurt Stennett 1 / Leroy Buchanan 1 / Tyreese Chapman 1 / Haydn Suridge 1 / Andrew Blair 1 and 5 goals.
MACLEAY: Tries – Jacob Cummins 2 / Mahteece Holten 1 / Harrison Nemme 1 / Mason Campbell 1 / Mehki Kelly 3 goals.
Match report
By Luke SHIELDS
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