The Clarence Town Cobras missed an opportunity to move into the D grade Newcastle Hunter rugby league top three, going down in a 50-20 shellacking to competition leaders Glendale on Saturday.
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The loss pitches Clarence Town into the minor semi final against Hexham, to be played this weekend.
“If we beat Glendale we would have got a chance to move into second or third. The loss puts us in fourth and a sudden death final,” Cobras coach Peter Maytom said to the Chronicle.
Glendale led by just 16-6 at halftime, but their sharp five-eighth and centre combination cut the Cobras to shreds after the break.
“It just blew out after halftime,” Maytom said of the scoreline.
There were several players who managed to play strongly in the tough loss.
Five-eighth James Foot got the players’ player award for his performance in the losing team, while Maytom also praised the games of forward Lachlan Jones and George Dunn.
Glendale, who finished the season on 32 points with 15 wins from 17 games, “look like the team to beat” according to Maytom.
However, the Cobras coach knows they’ll have to play well to beat Hexham, who made the finals in fifth place on 16 points.
The two sides have played twice this year with Clarence Town getting the spoils both times.
“I’m confident but I’m not over confident,” Maytom said.
“They were a difficult team to play, we’ll have to play well to beat them.”
In the major semi, Cardiff and Karuah will battle at Lakeside Oval.
In the following week, the winner of the minor semi will clash with the loser of the major semi, while the winner of the major will play Glendale, who get the first week of the finals off.
- D grade ladder at completion of regular season: Glendale 32 points, Cardiff 21 points, Karuah 21 points, Clarence Town 19 points, Hexham Jets 16 points, Swansea 10 points, Raymond Terrace 7 points, Maitland United 5 points.
- This Saturday: Cardiff v Clarence Town at Lakeside Oval, 11am. Cardiff v Karuah.