By BRYSON LUFF

The Cobar Roosters will finish as the first grade minor premiers of the 2021 Christie and Hood Castlereagh League even if they are to lose their last competition game against the Gilgandra Panthers this coming Saturday in Gilgandra.

The Roosters are at the top of the table, having lost only one game throughout the year, two points clear of the 2020 premiers, the Dunedoo Swans, and whilst a loss to the Panthers this weekend would not be ideal preparation for the finals series, the minor premiership is theirs due to their far superior points differential which cannot be bettered even if Dunedoo were to record a big win over the Trangie Magpies in the final round.

The top five in first grade is sorted, but not so the final finishing order, with Gulgong Terriers and Coonabarabran Unicorns fighting it out for fourth position on the ladder which would give them hosting rights for the elimination semi final on Sunday 22 August.

Both teams are locked together on 22 competition points with Gulgong holding an advantage in terms of points differential and with the Terriers assured of two competition points courtesy of the bye the Unicorns must win by a sizeable margin in their game against Baradine to leapfrog Gulgong on the ladder.

Meanwhile the Baradine Magpiettes have given themselves a very good shot at claiming the league tag minor premiership when they defeated the Dunedoo Swannettes 28 to 20 in another close encounter between the two sides last Saturday.

The win puts them two points clear of the Swannettes on the competition table, but if they lose to third placed Coonabarabran this Saturday, and the Swannettes get up against Trangie it will come down to points difference, so the Magpies game against the Unicorns takes on a great degree of importance.

Whilst the league tag game at Baradine bears a great deal of significance those two teams are assured of a place in the finals.

Not so the game at Gilgandra between the Pink Panthers and the Cobar Roosterettes, the winner of which will advance to the semis, whilst it will be the season end for the vanquished!

Round 17 of the competition saw the Coonamble Bears first grade side finish their 2021 commitments with a 68 to nil loss to the Gilgandra Panthers, with the highlight of the match being the five try haul to the Panther’s flying young winger, Kyzah Louie.

The Bears had a good start to the day when their league tag side won an entertaining and close game against the Pink Panthers 20 points to 16, the win securing them a spot in the final five.

At Dunedoo the win by the Baradine Magpies in the league tag could not be matched by their first grade side who were thumped 76 to nil by the Swans, and at Gulgong the Terriers were too strong for the Trangie Magpies in both grades winning the league tag 48 to 10 and first grade 54 to nil.

At Cobar the home side recorded an important win in the league tag, winning 42 to 6 against Binnaway, that win propelling them into semi final contention.

Christie and Hood Castlereagh League Round 17 Scores

Youth League

Cobar 25 defeated Binnaway 0

League Tag

Cobar 42 (Brianna Watson 3, Alexandra Cain, Tyler Chiswick, Brennah Aumua, Kayla Hassan, Hannah Carroll tries, Watson 5 goals) defeated Binnaway 6 (Amy Jones try, Lisa Jones goal)

Gulgong 48 (Laurissa Hay 3,Amali Hollow 2, Abby Hollow, Melissa Ballard, Ella Hawkins tries, Mel Robinson 8 goals) defeated Trangie 10 (Brittany Darcy, Grace Larance tries Emma Regan goal)

Baradine 28 (Maria Nagy-Campbell 3, Fleur Andrews, Kate Masman tries, Nagy-Campbell 4 goals) defeated Dunedoo 20 (Gemma Mitchell, Alexis Gallagher, Hayley Cox, Kerrie Ward tries, Ceara Smith, Annie Christensen goals)

Coonamble 20 (Shay Hooper 2,Tayla Pennell, Marnie Ryan tries, Emily Ryan 2 goals) defeated Gilgandra 16 (Chloe McLean 2, Emily Fardell tries, Shian Chatfield 2 goals)

Coonabarabran bye

Competition table;

Baradine 32 (+ 330), Dunedoo 30 (+309), Coonabarabran 24 (+182), Cobar 20 (+91), Coonamble 20 (+89), Gilgandra 20 (+27), Gulgong 10, Binnaway 10, Trangie 4.

First Grade

Gulgong 54 (Sam Gorrie, Brendan Carter, Ethan Pegus, Gus Buckley, Dan Crane, Tom Reddish, Cal Ruming, Brad James, Luke Chapman tries, James Morrison 9 goals) defeated Trangie 0

Dunedoo 76 (Kurt Thompson 3, Tom Shearman 3, Jake Darlington 3, Chanse Burgess 2, Camden Sutton, Matt Woods, Sam Christensen, Ben Thompson tries, Burgess 6, Ben Thompson 2 goals) defeated Baradine 0 (score recorded as 75 to nil)

Gilgandra 68 (Kyzah Louie 5, Hayden Smith 2, Curtis Carr, George Alchin, DJ Smith, Kieren Hazelton, Brandon Hammond, Luke Ritchie tries,  Ritchie 7, Hayden Smith goals) defeated Coonamble 0

Byes Cobar and Coonabarabran

Competition table

Cobar 32 (+442), Dunedoo 30 (+255), Gilgandra 26 (+199) Gulgong 22 (+ 90) Coonabarabran 22 (+25), Baradine 13, Trangie 12, Coonamble 9.

Round 18 Saturday August 25

Binnaway V Gulgong, Trangie V Dunedoo, Baradine v Coonabarabran, Gilgandra V Cobar, Coonamble bye