A STIRRING second half performance by the Parkes Spacemen was enough to secure a 22-15 victory over the Macquarie Raiders on Sunday afternoon.
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Soggy conditions made it slippery underfoot, but a dedicated home crowd were still on hand to watch the Spacemen overturn a 7-nil half-time deficit, thanks to a spectacular hat trick by winger Jacob Smede.
Both teams got off to error-riddled starts as they adjusted to the conditions, but it was Macquarie who struck first through Kane McDermott on the back of multiple penalties, with the big forward barging over after a smart pass from dummy half.
The Raiders held the majority of the field position, but after a player was sin-binned for a high shot, Parkes got the momentum jolt they needed.
Jack Creith's superb 40-20 helped Parkes march down the field, but, as they had been all half, the Spacies were their own worst enemy - spilling the ball one metre short of the line and failing to capitalise on their extra number in attack.
A clever field goal after the siren gave Macquarie a 7-nil lead, and Parkes needed to respond in a big way.
And boy, did they.
Just three minutes into the second half, Smede got the first of his tries; with the lanky winger leaping high above his opposite number Tyler Bamblett, to score in the corner after an exquisite chip kick from Chad Porter.
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Macquarie hit back with two tries in four minutes courtesy of Bamblett and Filisione Pauta, with Wyndham Peachey pulling the strings like a magician at five eighth.
That was the last point Parkes let them score, however, with the Spacies attack starting to gain the ascendancy despite some massive hits from the Raiders in defence.
Smede and Porter combined again for tries twice in the half, giving Bamblett nightmares through a combination of chip kicks, bombs and dummies; though Smede said that came about organically instead of a planned assault before the game.
"Not really, it just happened," he said when asked about his hattrick after the game, preferring to pass on the plaudits to Porter.
"Chad's kicks were absolutely perfect."
The Spacemen second rowers were huge in the second half, laying the platform for the dominance of Smede and Porter; with Jordon Pope, Jake Porter and Bailey Hartwig looking threatening and menancing anytime they had the ball in their hands.
To onlookers it might have seemed that Parkes had grown a leg at half-time, but Smede said the instructions from coach Brent Wood were simple.
"Just completion really, and that's exactly what we did."
Wood in fact said he had been pleased with his charges, despite trailing at half-time. "I didn't tell them them too much, they were good in the first half, I was happy," he said with a smile on his face after the game.
Fittingly, it was Porter himself who iced the game for Parkes in the 75th minute, with a tiring Macquarie defence failing to deal with the elusive half back as he crashed over to the delight of his teammates. Next up for Parkes is a huge twin town derby game against Forbes at Spooner Oval next Sunday.
PARKES SPACEMEN 22 (Smede 3, C. Porter tries; Hartwig 3 goals) defeated MACQUARIE RAIDERS 15 (McDermott, Bamblett, Pauta tries; Peachey goal; Peachey field goal)
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