It was semi-final time on a chilly but sunny Saturday morning at Gowrie Playing Fields where the U13 Boars took on a strong Vikings team.
The Vikings came out firing putting the Boars on the back foot for much of the first half. They had most of the possession and scored two quick tries up the middle which were both converted. The young Boars finally got the ball and Nathan Hogan-Grimm went through a gap, passed to raging prop forward, “Smiley” Thomas Humphries who broke a couple of tackles, and ran some 35m to score a great try under the posts.
However, Vikings were not finished yet with this half. They moved the ball quickly through the backs’ hands and scored wide to take the score to 19-5 at half-time. Things were looking a bit grim for the U13s, but their experienced coach John Curtis calmly emphasised how important retaining the ball was in the next half.
A completely different attitude prevailed from the kick-off for the second half and the Boars took control. “Smiley” made another great break and got it to fast lock forward, Jonathon Worthy who scored a fine try out wide. Half and captain Bonnie Brewer then sent the backs to work and winger Matt Johnston outpaced everyone to score near the posts. This was nicely converted by Dillon Collier and took the score to 19-17.
The Vikings came back hard, but the Boars defence held strong. The whole team defended vigorously. Bonnie then took a quick tap and passed to the charging flanker, “JC” Ngarima-Lole who knocked players off all around him before scoring a vital try near the posts. Dillon Collier converted this to take the score to 24–19.
The Vikings made a concerted and determined effort to come back but the final scored remained 24–19 to the U13 Boars who are into the Grand Final next Saturday.
