The Batemans Bay Tigers’ first grade side came painfully close to sealing their first win of the season on Sunday.
The Tigers traded blows with the Narooma Devils, finishing just two points shy of the visitors at McKay Park as the Devils claimed a 34-32 win.
Earlier, the ladies league-tag contingent had mixed results with a resounding win over the Narooma She-Devils 26-14 before suffering a surprise upset to the Candelo-Bemboka Pink Panthers 22-6.
It was a heart-breaking result for the first grade Tigers, who never gave up the fight, battling into the final minutes of the match.
The Bay scored seven tries to Narooma’s six, but accuracy with the boot proved pivotal as the hosts slotted just two conversion attempts – with most of the four-pointers landing right at the touch line and making for challenging angles.
Meanwhile, despite lacking a four-pointer, the Devils sealed the result with kicker Ryan Norris finding the mark on five of his six attempts.
Both clubs offered up some good passages of play with clean expansive footy, where the centres and wingers became a centrepiece in the high-scoring affair.
The scoring was varied for the hosts with a number of players offering up individual four-pointers, including half-back Mick Taditch.
Jarrod Wicks was one of the only big men to find the line with the Bay prop plunging over for a four-pointer, while most of the spoils were claimed on the flanks.
Other tries featured both the Bay centres in a good display on the fringes, while the Tigers’ hooker made a couple of high-impact runs out of dummy-half to find himself across the try-line.
Meanwhile, Tim Crome proved the danger man for the visiting Devils with his pair of tries.
However, the Devils were also buoyed by the quick-sprints of Matt Parsons fresh from Country under 18s representative duties in New Zealand with the star winger also featuring in a double.
Meanwhile, the Narooma Hooker Ninnum Parsons was able to claim a pair of tries for himself with some good scooting runs out of dummy-half.
Earlier, the league-tag Tigresses had shone against the Narooma She-Devils and were startled by surprising focus by the Candelo-Bemboka Pink Panthers.
Bay winger Sheree Coubrough was a standout in the opening ladies encounter – featuring in a four-try haul as the hosts rattled the She-Devils.
The Narooma outfit had matched the scoring early with a converted try to Janaija Parsons, but Coubrough was set loose repeatedly in the first half to take control.
Tries later in the piece to Sherri Campbell and Jaydean Lonsdale-Patten nearly leveled the odds at 16-14, but the Bay lifted for a second half resurgence.
Ashlea Bishop claimed a quick try before a couple of handy shots on goal sealed the 26-14 result.
In their second encounter, the Tigers were shaken by the visiting Pink Panthers to go down 22-6.
The Panthers secured just their second win of the season with a hotly focused attack and some decisive runs up the middle.
The visitors were led by their half-back Caitlin Johnson, who featured with two tries, while Tyjana Blacka and Emma Backhouse claimed one each.
Bay halfback Beth Christensen was the sole try-scorer for the hosts.
