By BRYSON LUFF

The Gilgandra Panthers claimed the vital competition points when they hosted the Baradine Magpies in the final competition round of the 2022 Christie and Hood Castlereagh League competition.

In a high scoring match, the Panthers recorded a big win, but more importantly the competition points that secured them a berth in the major semi final against the Narromine Jets at Narromine next Saturday.

However, whilst the final score flattered neither side’s defence, it does not tell the whole story about the match which saw the second placed Gilgandra outfit up against a Baradine side that had not won a game throughout the season.

This was to be the Maggies final outing for the year, and they were playing for nothing but pride, and in that area they excelled turning up with a full complement of players and giving it their all until the final whistle was blown.

The home side lead 26 to nil at the break, with that lead being extended to 38 nil in the early stages of the second half.

The never say die attitude of the visitors then began to shine through and they scored two converted tries to make it 38 to 12 before the Panthers regrouped and soon the scoreboard was reading 56 to 12 in their favour.

But once again the Maggies were not going to lay down and they finished all over the top of Panthers racing in three converted tries to make the final score 56 to 30, the second half being 30 all.

It was a noteworthy performance by the black and whites, and one that deservedly won them much praise. It also gave the Panthers much to think about ahead of their semi-final clash, particularly on the defensive side of things.

Meanwhile at Cobar the Coonamble Bears finished their commitments for the season when they went down 64 to 16 to a dominant Roosters team.

The Bears however registered a sizeable win in the league tag and that, combined with the loss by the Gilgandra Pink Panthers to Baradine sees them finish in fourth position on the table and they will be heading out to Roosterland again this Sunday to take on the Narromine Jets in the minor semi-final.

Both the major and minor semi finals will be played this weekend with Narromine hosting the majors on Saturday and then the action will shift to Cobar on Sunday for the minors.

Saturday’s games will begin with the reserve grade game kicking off at 11.45am featuring the Binnaway Bombshells in action against the Jets, followed by what is expected to be another classic league tag encounter between Baradine and Dunedoo.

In first grade the host club will be up against the Gilgandra Panthers. Earlier in the year the Panthers scored an impressive win at Cale Oval, but the Jets returned serve on Gilgandra’s home turf just a few weeks ago. Certainly, the visitors can ill afford to drift in and out of this match in a fashion similar to what they did against Baradine last Saturday.

The big prize to the winner of this game is the right to host the grand final, something that both clubs would dearly love, so the stakes are high and a great game is anticipated.

Sunday’s action will see the Gulgong Bull Terriers in action in both the reserve grade game (against Gilgandra) and in first grade with the host club being their opposition.

The Terriers have had a number of byes going into this match, something that they no doubt have factored into their preparation for the game against the formidable Roosters.

The league tag game will feature Narromine up against Coonamble.

Christie and Hood Castlereagh League Round 18 Scores

League Tag

Baradine 14 (Maria Nagy, Savannah Carey, Stephanie Bowling tries, Ashanti Pennel goal) defeated Gilgandra 6 (Shian Chatfield try and goal)

Coonamble 40 (Hannah Towns 2, Shakaye Walker, Jessica Solomon, Emily Ryan, Tori Canham, Shay Hooper tries Canham 7 goals) defeated Cobar 4 (Georgia Boland try).

Dunedoo 32 (Hannah Christie 4, Alexis Gallagher 2, Georgia Lane, Brianna Smith tries) defeated Binnaway 6 (Sarah Pennell try, Lisa Jones goal)

Competition Ladder

Baradine 50 (+264), Dunedoo 46 (+202), Narromine 46 (+130), Coonamble 42 (+79), Gilgandra 42 (+17), Gulgong 38 (+18), Cobar 29 (-316), Binnaway 26

(-332).

Rugby League

Reserve Grade

Gilgandra 34 (Rorey Milgate 2, Lachlan Nyboer, Jarrod Bamblett, Shane Ritchie, Ray Saunders tries, Ritchie 5 goals) defeated Gulgong 20 (Jordan McGregor 2, Anthony Furney, James Morrison tries, Zane Wiseby 2 goals)

Binnaway 38 (Shannon Doole 2, Cody Whitty 2, Connor Hughes, Shawn Kidd, Quade Anderson tries, Tom Magann 5 goals) defeated Narromine 10 (Ryan Richardson, Mitch Rixon tries, Jack Powell goal)

Competition Ladder

Binnaway 9 (+66), Narromine 6 (-26), Gilgandra 5 (+4), Gulgong 4 (-44),

First Grade

Gilgandra 56 (Chris Fuller 2, Kyle Welsh 2, Laiten Diggs, David Smith, Hayden Smith, Tom Brisbane, Alex Sutherland tries, David Smith 8 goals) deeated Baradine 30 (Jarvis Watton 2, John Evans, Silver Bunner, Hugh Horder tries, Jessie McElhinney 3, Watton, Dean Evans goals)

Cobar 64 (Loma Atuah 3, Nathan McAndrew 2, Tom Plater 2, Ashley Davies, Jack Brown, Ben Simon, Jed Noonan tries, Plater 10 goals) defeated Coonamble 16 (Preston Smith, Kyle Wiggins, Jack Kelly tries, Mitch Nalder, Brendon O’Brien goals)

Final competition table

Narromine 48 (+126), Gilgandra 48 (+70), Cobar 47 (+289), Gulgong 43 (+110), Dunedoo 41 (- 138), Coonamble 37 (-38), Baradine 26 (-395).

Next weekend

Saturday 3^rd September major semi-finals at Narromine with first game to kick off at 11.45am

• Binnaway V Narromine (Reserve Grade)
• Baradine V Dunedoo (League Tag)
• Narromine V Gilgandra (First Grade)

Sunday 4^th September minor semi-finals at Cobar with first game to kick off at 11.45am

• Gilgandra V Gulgong (Reserve Grade)
• Narromine V Coonamble (League Tag)
• Cobar V Gulgong (First Grade)