Dragons must regroup after Gundagai mauling

The Temora Dragons turned in their worst performance of the season in last Sunday’s major semi-final at Nixon Park when they went down 42-6 to the Gundagai Tigers. With a big crowd in attendance the Dragons were unable to repeat their Round 16 result when they defeated the Tigers 34-10 at Anzac Park. For the defending premiers it was an impressive win, scoring eight tries to Temora’s one, and sees them move into the Group Nine grand final at Wagga’s GEOHEX Stadium on Sunday, 20 September, while Temora meet the in-form South City Bulls in the preliminary final at Harris Park next Sunday. The Bulls qualified to meet the Dragons with an impressive 22-18 win over the Junee Diesels at Laurie Daley Oval on Saturday in the minor semi-final. In what was a disappointing display by the Dragons they were guilty of just about every mistake in the book that saw the Tigers turn a comfortable halftime score of 20-6 into a match-winning margin of 38-6 after scoring three quick tries in six minutes halfway through the second half. The Tigers made the most of Temora’s paper-thin defence, especially metres out from their tryline, and if the element of their game does not improve vastly the likes of Kyle McCarthy, Nathan Rose and Matt Lyons will have a picnic on their home ground at Harris Park. It only took the visitors six minutes to put their first points on the board when they headed to Jimmy Stewart’s wing and with their try-scoring speedster winger Salus Temaka out-jumping his opposite he regathered to score and with Corey Wilson the Tigers got the start they had worked for, leading 6-0. Temora’s first points came after 20 minutes on the back of a dropped ball by Gundagai and a penalty to the Dragons. Second-rower Tyler Madden split the defence on the tryline to score and with Jake McGovern’s conversion Temora were back in the game at 6-all. Minutes later the Tigers made the most of some poor defence with Tyrone Gorman scoring what can only be described as an “easy” try, but with the conversion attempt going wide the Tigers were out to a 10-6 lead. Gundagai’s halfback Derek Hay sliced his way through the Dragons forwards, scoring under the posts and with the conversion six minutes from halftime the Tigers had stretched their lead to 16-6. The Tigers went further ahead on the stroke of halftime when they again made the most of the Dragons’ struggling defence with centre James Morgan racing over out wide and with no conversion the visitors went to halftime with a comfortable 20-6 advantage. Early in the second half Hayden Philp required attention to a head injury but remained on the field. Gundagai’s next points came following a Dragons drop out which saw centre Gabriel Gul step through some poor defence to score in the corner and with the long-range conversion Gundagai had gone to a 26-6 lead. Only minutes later they were in again when Jamie Luff made the most of some poor defence on the Dragons line to touch down under the posts, giving Corey Wilson an easy conversion for a Tigers lead of 32-6. Points were coming easy for the Tigers at this stage, and they pushed the score out to 38-6 with fullback going wide to brush off would-be defenders to score, and with the conversion the Tigers extended their growing lead to 38-6 with 14 minutes remaining. Centre James Morgan brushed through some terrible defence to complete his team’s scoring, touching down wide out and with no conversion. With eight minutes remaining the Tigers had done enough with a scoreline that saw them wrap up the game with an impressive 42-6 win. In a game that saw the Dragons struggle to have any standout players, there will need to be a lot of soul searching in the week leading up to next week’s all-important preliminary final at Wagga. Points in the game came from: Gundagai 42 – Tries: J. Morgan 2, S. Temaka, T. Gorman, D. Hay, G. Gul, N. Herring, J. Luff. Goals: C. Wilson 5. Temora 6 – Try: T. Madden. Goal: J. McGovern. Penalties: 8-4 Temora. Minor Grades In the earlier games at Nixon Park the Dragons reserve grade have won their way into the grand final with a six-point win over the Albury Thunder, which will now see the minor premiers play the Wagga Kangaroos at Wagga next Sunday, after the Roos defeated South City at Junee on Saturday. In the League Tag at Nixon Park between minor premiers Wagga Brothers and Temora, the Wagga club turned around their two defeats by the Dragons in the competition proper and won convincingly, holding Temora tryless, winning 14-0. Temora will now meet Cootamundra at Harris Park on Sunday after they came from behind to defeat Tumut 24-22 on Saturday at Junee. Temora Major Semi Finals – Minor Grade Results Reserve Grade: Temora 18 – Tries: C. Slinger, C. Bent, J. Haisell. Goals: J. McKinnon 3/3. Albury 12 – Tries: J. Huggett 2. Goals: E. Tui 2/2. League Tag: Brothers 14 – Tries: J. Pinney, S. Carter. Goals: C. Huggett 1, plus two penalties. Temora 0. Group Nine Minor Semi Final at Junee First Grade: South City 22 defeated Junee 18. Reserve Grade: Kangaroos 18 defeated South City 0. Women’s Tackle: South City 22 defeated Young 8. Weissel Cup: Kangaroos 34 defeated Young 0. League Tag: Cootamundra 24 defeated Tumut 22. Major Semi Final at Temora First Grade: Gundagai 42 defeated Temora 6. Reserve Grade: Temora 18 defeated Albury 12. Women’s Tackle: Brothers 18 defeated Junee 6. Weissel Cup: Brothers 22 defeated South City 16. League Tag: Brothers 14 defeated Temora 0.

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