The Dungog Warriors have overcame a 16 to 0 first half deficit against third placed Thornton Beresfield to draw 20-all and keep alive their semi-final hopes on a wet winters day at Bennett Park on Sunday.
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After the slow start the Warriors almost snatched an upset victory with a Chris Nevin attempted field goal just going astray in the final minutes of the match.
While the Dungog side looked dangerous with the football in the early stages on Sunday their defence in and around the ruck left a lot to be desired.
The Thornton side was continually making inroads with only last ditched Warriors final line defence keeping their tryline intact.
Thornton’s and the games first points came 15 minutes into the match after a last tackle clearing kick was allowed to bounce and was regathered for an unconverted try out wide.
With Dungog’s ruck defence looking brittle and fragile, Thornton were able go on the attack again and a few missed tackles saw a converted try scored for a 10 to 0 lead.
Another Thornton try 10 minutes before halftime extended their lead to 16 points, before Dungog second-rower Luke Rits inspired the Warriors comeback.
After some handy ball movement, Rits proved too strong for the defence to score an unconverted try out wide.
Then just seconds before halftime, Dungog forward Zac Thackery crashed through for a try under the posts.
Then Lee Nevin saw Dungog well and truly back in the ball game trailing by just 16-10.
The second half started disastrously for the Warriors with some sloppy defence allowing Thornton to score in the first minute of play after their winger finished off a backline movement.
A mistake from the restart gave Dungog possession and they took full advantage of the opportunity with Luke Rits breaking the line before offloading to centre Trent McCarthy who scored the Warriors third try.
When Lee Nevin converted, the scoreboard showed the Warriors trailing by just four points at 20-16. The scores were soon level when Jake Clifton intercepted a Thornton pass 40 metres out from the line and showed too much pace to score out wide.
With showers increasing both teams struggled with their ball control in the last 30 minutes of the match in the slippery conditions to be able to apply any real pressure on each other’s line.
Defence from both sides seemed to pick up a level, repelling anything that the opposing side could throw at them.
Dungog had two late changes to snatch victory through field goals with both missing, leaving the final score locked at 20-all.
The Warriors have been struck by an injury curse throughout the 2014 season which continued on Sunday with Trent McCarthy, Jack Greentree, Marc Driver and Mitchell Evans all succumbing to injury during the game, adding more merit to the Dungog effort.
This week Dungog do battle with fourth placed Lambton at Lambton on Saturday in a match that Dungog must win to keep their semi-final aspirations alive.
