After a couple of near misses in recent weeks the Dungog Warriors showed glimpses of what they are capable of as they returned to the winners list with a 24-14 win over the Karuah Roos at Bennett Park on Friday night.
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Superbly led by captain coach Wes Neilson and fellow bookend Mitch Nott, the Warriors took control from the opening whistle and except for their handling letting them down on occasions, could easily have ran in a few more tries.
Dungog already have a good attitude in defence and once they get that same attitude with the ball in their hands the wins will continue to come.
It was all Dungog in the opening exchanges with Neilson and Nott making good inroads into the Roos defence allowing the halves pairing of Jake Clifton And Zac Howlett a good platform to give the Dungog outside backs ample room to show their wares.
It looked like only a matter of time before Dungog scored but unfortunately for the home side it was the Roos who posted first points.
Dungog had just made a 40-metre break only for a pass to go to ground.
From the next set of six and on one of the few occasions Karuah were down Dungogs end the Roos crossed in the corner for an unconverted try.
This was just a minor setback for Dungog and they finally got rewarded for their good field position when Luke Hughes crossed for a converted try at the 25 minute mark.
Dungog were in again 10 minutes later when from a scrum win the ball was spread wide with winger Aaron Cottam finising of a well executed backline move to cross in the corner for an unconverted try which allowed the Warriors to go to the sheds at half time with a 10-4 lead.
The Warriors start to the second half was less than ideal with poor ball control negating any attempt to build momentum.
Dungog’s defence was rock solid with the Roos once again having trouble getting out of their own half and if the Warriors could string a couple of sets together another try was on offer and this proved correct when another well costructed backline move featuring Zac Howlett, Jackson Bell and Aaron Cottam had Cottam diving over in the corner for his second try.
A magnificent sideline conversion from Lee Nevin had the Warriors in the box seat, leading 16-4.
Karuah were next to score when showing the unpredictability they are known for, put a kick through from a scrum win 10 metres out fom their own line before kicking again, regathering and crossing adjacent to the sticks for a converted try to narrow the deficit to six.
Dungog continued to stick to their game plan and control the play with solid defence and a good kicking game and extended its lead to eight with a Tyson Cullen penalty goal after a late hit on Lee Nevin.
The Warriors sealed the win inside the last 10 minutes when Zac Howlett capped off a great game when he stepped past a couple of would be defenders for a converted try.
Karuah did manage to score in the dying minutes but it did nothing to detract from a fine all round performance from the Warriors and it was a very happy bunch of players and spectators when the full time siren went.
RSL best forward Wes Neilson, RSL best back Zac Howlett, players’ player Mitch Nott and Ray’s reserve Luke Hughes
The Warriors next game is this Saturday at 3pm against Fingal Bay at Fingal Bay.
Dungog defeated Fingal Bay at Bennett Park earlier in the season in a hard fought 10-4 win in its best performance of the year so far and a repeat performance will be required for Dungog to come home with the two points.
