Under 13s boarded the rugby bus and headed up the highway to meet Dubbo Reds.
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Heavy rain before the match made for a very heavy track which made hanging onto the ball quite a problem.
Wellington needed to win this game to have any chance of making the finals and they didn't start anywhere near as well as they had the week before but were still good enough to register the first points.
Logan Conn had made a tremendous charge along the sideline with Justin Hetherington right on his tail. When Logan hit the deck Justin scooped up the loose ball and charged forward.
Logan then backed him up and with a nice little pop and he was over.
The game flowed to and fro as each side stuck it to each other in what had become a mud slog.
It looked as though Wellington would go into the break in front until Dubbo capitalised on some poor Redback defence and scooted over for a try leaving the score locked up at five-all.
The second half was much the same with nobody showing clear dominance.
Sam McCarroll who was in bad shape with the flu pulled off some brilliant tackles and in one remarkable effort, with the help of the ever-present Mitch Vernon, drove a Dubbo attacker over the sideline saving a certain try.
George Parkes and Jesse Mills were like grim reapers cutting the legs out from under hordes of willing attackers.
Almost the entire second half passed without another point scored.
Logan Conn was certainly Wellington's go to man making huge inroads into the Reds half, but poor backing up from his team-mates left Wellington unable to capitalise.
It looked at this stage the match would end in a draw but with only two minutes left on the clock, as in the first half, Dubbo charged through and planted the ball between the sticks. After a successful conversion the final score remained Dubbo 12 Wellington 5.
Logan Conn 3 points, Jarod Scott 2 points
o o o
The under 15s ran on next against the Dubbo Blues once again in very wet conditions with sheets of water laying on the field.
Dubbo was at full strength where as we had our two country reps missing, but our boys looked for no excuses and were afforded none by a very tenacious Blues team.
It was a very physical start to the game. The big Dubbo runners kept coming at our line only to be crashed to the ground.
Darcy Tierney wrapped himself around their hips and drove plenty of them into the mud making them think they should choose a different path to run.
Mid way through the first half Dubbo cracked the Wellington line but failed to convert.
Austin Last stood tall out on the wing as the opposition peppered him with horrible bouncing kicks all day.
He however, kept his cool and remained mistake free. Dubbo mounted sustained pressure before half-time and on the back of a penalty close to the Redbacks line, they added another try to their tally leaving the score 10-nil in their favour at the break.
The Redbacks had weathered the worst of it during the first half and upped the anti in defence during the second stanza.
Brad McCarroll was like the TV show 'absolutely fabulous' for the entire match and without him the score might well have blown out. He kept talking to his younger backs and leading them by example with his lethal running and crunching defence.
Dubbo could only manage one more try probably leaving them a little disappointed they could not take the game by the scruff of the neck.
The Redbacks, although beaten, kept grinding out the game right until the final whistle showing signs of the form that won them the grand final last year.
Final score Dubbo 15 Wellington 0.
Brad McCarroll 3 points Darcey Teirney 2 points Austin Last 1 point
Congratulations to Jakob Styles and Lincoln Blackhall on their outstanding effort in being chosen for the NSW state side. For two boys in the same age group from a small club is a truly remarkable effort.
The Under 17s report will be in Friday's edition of the Wellington Times.
Kenny's Excited
