Gobbledegeek 2.o

Despite scoring three tries to their opponent’s one, the Fighting Miners were narrowly defeated by the Puckapunyal Boars in wet, raining conditions last Saturday.

Lack of discipline when not in possession of the ball cost the Miners dearly as the Puckapunyal goalkicker took every chance offered to him, slotting 5/5 with four penalties and a conversion.

Team: 1 N. Poingdestre, 2 E. Tuitupou, 3 J. Tuitupou, 4 N. Dehnert, 5 S. Kelly, 6 D. Fallaver, 7 S. McGrail, 8 B. Westley, 8 A. Saville, 10 Jon Solomon, m11 S. Fagavao, 12 Jeremy Solomon, 13 J. Learai, 14 S. Queally, 15 J. Manderson, 16 T. Henderson, 17 C. Dalley, 18 Conrad, 20 M. Crichton, 21 P. Thomas, 22 L. Eriksen  Reserve: Julius Solomon

Scorers: J. Tuitupou, E. Tuitupou, N. Poingdestre tries; Manderson goal

Next week, the Miners travel to Cobram to take on the resurgent Dust Devils.

Read the full match report here.

Saturday’s opening match of the 2010 Country Victoria rugby season saw the Fighting Miners suffer a 14 – 26 defeat at the hands of Puckapunyal at Shadforth Park, Bendigo.

Defensive frailties on the fringes of the ruck and in the backline of the Miners gave the Boars repeated opportunities to score but the Miners held on to trail by only seven points at the break, 7-14.

Bendigo’s points were scored from a try to five-eighth Steve MacDonald when he sliced through the Puckapunyal defence at the back of a line-out and a conversion by Josh Manderson.

Puck opened the second half with an unconverted try to stretch its lead to 12 points at 19-7.

Bendigo responded with some strong running from improved set play. This led to a string of high tackles by the Boars’ players as the match threatened to become spiteful. Referee Wayne Pick took strong action, sending three Puckapunyal players to the sin bin simultaneously in the twentieth minute of the second half….

by W. Coulter

Read the full article here.

The Bendigo Fighting Miners are still in desperate need of players to sign for the proposed youth squad. If you aged between 14 and 16 and are interested or know someone who may be, please call Mark Luatutu on 5434 5822 (work) or 0427 315067.

It’s great to hear that the Bendigo Fighting Miners have wrapped up the season with two games in hand. It’s also nice to see their continued and considerable efforts rewarded with a mention in local press.

THE Bendigo Fighting Miners clinched the Victoria Rugby Union country division minor premiership in a 38-14 victory agaisnt Ballarat on Saturday.

With two rounds remaining and each team still to have a bye, the Miners are two wins clear of Ballarat and cannot be caught, even if they lose next weekend.

Full article linkage.

From the Miners’ own web site…

The Fighting Miners crushed Ballarat by 38 points to 17 in an impressive display at St. Pat’s Oval, Ballarat last Saturday.

Trailing 7-12 after twenty minutes, the Miners lifted their work rate, scoring five unanswered tries and 31 points to establish a 38-12 lead before conceding a consolation try to Ballarat in the final play of the game.

Article linkage.

For those unfamiliar with the Fighting Miners, they are not a group of belligerent gold diggers but a successful rugby union team.

Keep up the good work….both of you!