RUGBY LEAGUE
Canowindra Tigers have secured a win in their final regular Woodbridge Cup game at home.
The Tigers, who have the bye in the final round, hosted Cowra Magpies on Saturday and put first points on the board by the ninth minute.
Cowra rallied their defences and the remainder of the first half saw close competition, though Canowindra were able to take advantage of several favourable penalties to get into a good position.
A kick through from Andrew Bennett, which a Cowra defender lost control of, allowed him to run through and score in the 31st minute to bring the score to 10-6.
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The Magpies took the lead late in the first half with a try scored off a kick giving them a 12-10 advantage.
The contest was close and physical, with Canowindra showing some promising runs when they took play out wide.
A try and and conversion early in the second half gave them the break-through and Tigers were back in the lead 16-12.
A long ball from Robert Burn when Canowindra were attacking Cowra's line found Ryan Clarke, only recently returned from injury, on the wing.
With some fancy footwork from Clarke, Canowindra closed out the try with Burn securing the conversion to bring the score to 22-12 with 21 minutes left on the clock.
They followed up with another try right under the posts before Cowra replied to narrow the gap - only to have Canowindra burst away in the final stages of the game.
Two late tries saw the score to 36-16 at the final whistle, with Canowindra's try-scorers including John Grant, Andrew Bennett, Jaye Fuimaono, Ryan Clarke, Duwayne Mariner and Joshua Cooney.
Canowindra's League Tag game was a very close, but entertaining game.
The score was 10-all at half time and Canowindra scored early in the second half to bring the score to 16-10.
Cowra's reply in the 45th minute saw the scores levelled again, but from there Cowra dominated possession.
Following sustained pressure from Cowra's attack, the home squad conceded another try in the 51st minute to have a 20-16 lead.
Canowindra had a few chances to score late in the second half, but were unable to get past a solid Cowra defence.
In the youth league match, Canowindra needed to win against the competition leaders Cowra.
Archie McDonald got the hosts off to a good start when he raced away 60 metres to score in the eighth minute of the game, but from there Cowra hit back in the tenth and 20th and 27th minute to lead 18-6.
With some good ball control, Canowindra were able to score an unconverted try in the 31st minute to close the gap to 18-10.
Cowra scored in the 43rd minute to bring their lead to 22-10, but the Tigers were in the hunt and scored again for 22-16 with 10 minutes to go.
The Tigers finished strong but some of the calls didn't go their way, and Cowra were able to hold onto the ball to find their way out of trouble.
Next weekend first grade and league tag squads have the bye while the youth league squad heads to Eugowra where they will take on Narromine.
