THE main street of Richmond will be alive with merriment tonight, after Hawkesbury Ag College won both the first and second grade grand finals today in NSW Suburban Rugby Union.
The club finished second overall in the club championship, and was first in the third division of Subbies Rugby, and entered three of four teams into the grand finals.
The first grade team scored two tries in the dying moments of the game to break a 6-6 deadlock and seal the match against Brothers, winning 17-6.
The team lost in a similar fashion to Redfield in last season’s grand final, which left a bitter taste in their mouth’s.
When winger Timou Vosaicake crossed in the corner, with barely five minutes left on the clock, the supporters at the Merrylands RSL Rugby Park erupted and the bagpipes could be heard across the entire ground.
The bagpipes were silenced only momentarily as after the ensuing kickoff, flanker Tully McPherson caught the kick and made a speedy break through the Brothers line, which sparked some furious play and ended with a try to fullback Todd Stubbings.
Captain Chad Maher said after the game desire got the team across the line in the end.
“We worked hard, we wanted to make sure we made up for last year,” he said.
“We just had to dig deep. We wanted to make sure we got away with the win at the end.
“We stayed pretty composed. We knew the person who was the most patient would come away with it and towards the end there we came away with it.”
The first half saw Hawkesbury Ag College dominate, and spend much of the half camped on the Brothers try line, although they came away empty handed and actually trailed 6-3 at the half.
Prop Jason Moylan got over the line, but was ruled to have been held up.
In the second half, things stopped going Hawkesbury’s way, and Brothers started to assert some of their own dominance, using their big pack to win a number of scrums easily.
However, Ag College hung in, and eventually were able to level up the score through a Jake Bailey penalty goal.
A barnstorming run by winger Dylan Holmes down the sideline nearly broke the deadlock. Holmes was dragged down just short of the line, and reached out to plant the ball over the try line, however, the referee ruled he had been tackled and awarded a penalty to Brothers.
Ag College coach Kristian Berghofer said in his opinion, the better team won the match.
“I thought in the last chapter of the game we composed ourselves well, even though we were fatigued,” he said.
“I expected a dominant scrum, we just had to stay near them and be busy and we knew we would eventually run them down.”
Berghofer said the end of season results were humbling and paid tribute to all those involved in the season.
The second grade team defeated Beecroft 30-27, while the fourth grade team also played Beecroft but lost 17-10.
