It wasn’t their prettiest win of the season, but the Magpies were able to hold onto fourth position on the ladder on Sunday when they defeated Dubbo Macquarie Raiders 32-20. The win keeps the Magpies in the hunt for a top three finish, and gives the team high hopes for their game against the Parkes Spacemen this Sunday.
With the Magpies resting a few key players, including Ben Maguire and Matt Roylance in preparation for the local derby against the Spacemen this weekend, they had to pull out all stops against Macquarie, who were coming off a heated 32-30 win against Westside the previous week. Macquarie started well getting the first points on the board when Steven Leask crossed out wide in the first 3 minutes, taking them to a 4-0 lead.
That would be the only time Macquarie led the entire game however, with Magpies Captain-Coach Zac Merritt making a strong break through the centre to score just outside the posts and a successful conversion from Hayden Bolam, followed quickly by another from in-form lock, Ethan Gaffney, who was named the Magpies best player on the day.
Some fancy footwork from Kyle Baxter saw the Magpies increase the Margin and take a 16-4 lead into halftime. Early in the second half, Macquarie’s Claude Gordon crossed for a four pointer narrowing the gap to 16-10, but momentum and smarter football with tries to Joel Davie and Tys Reweti saw the Magpies stretch their lead and walk away with the win.
It was a big day for the Magpies, who earlier took out under-18s by 22-12 before their reserve grade side battled bravely with 12 men for the final stages of the match but still managed to grab a gutsy 20-18 win, confirming both teams as 2015 Minor Premiers. “The Reserve Grade win was one of the best I have seen in some time,” Magpies Club President Greg Grogan said. “They were effectively down to 10 men, two of them just managed to stay on the field to make up the numbers, it was a huge effort”.
The Magpies encourage everyone to head over to Spooners Oval this Sunday to support the Magpies in the highly anticipated Local Derby against the Parkes Spacemen this Sunday, which is also The Magpies Old Boys Day and Sponsors Day. Gates open from 10:30, with League Tag the first game of the day kicking off at 11am.