In front of one of the seasons best crowds on the annual Butchers Old Boys Day yesterday, with 20 mins to go , The Butchers looked gone for all money.
After 3 incompleted sets which ended with intercepts, knock on’s and short kicks, Wests landed a penalty goal which made the score 18 – 4, Wests were the much better side at the time and a Butchers faithful fan commented we could lose by 50 today after witnessing another bad set in defence.
On a Gibson Park pitch that resembled the ashpalt in the carpark, the butchers dug deep and grinded out some tough sets against a big Wests side and scored from close range through hard running from Luke Dodge and Luke Gallagher. Pat Franks scored the earlier try from a crossfield bomb making the score 18 -16 with 13 minutes remaining.
The big vocal crowd roared to life with a few half chances for either side looking like the match could end either way. With Wests attacking the Butchers line, a desperation pass went to ground and the veteran Brent Grose scooped up the ball and raced almost the length of the field only to be mowed down about 15 metres out. The Wests player was sin binned leaving Wests a man short for the remainder of the game.
The Butchers had a try disallowed to Ty McCarthy before next set of six, where Butchers players showed excellent handling and short passing, they created an overlap on the right before Pat Franks dummied, stepped, beat a few devils and off loaded to a flying Sam Clune to score and wrap up the First Grade minor premiership and Club Championship.
The boys wont be getting too carried away before the semis but to win the Club Championship on the shoe string budget the club operates on is a huge effort. Coaches Nathan Fien, Adam Seargant Wilson, Jarrod Costello and Brett Jones deserve all the praise they get for juggling a very skillful squad and picking the best team every week as well as creating a great club environment for all involved.
The Reserve Grade boys easily accounted for Dapto 34 -18. Coach Jarrod Costello has won premierships in all grades as a player and now with his coaching experience will look to be brutal against the other teams and guide the boys to a title. The side boasts many players who would be first graders every week at other clubs, many through hard work have progressed through the Butchers grades and will hold the club up for years to come. Great stuff boys
Under 19’s went down to minor premiers Wests 26 – 6. The boys have been impressive every week and never gave in against the devils. Brett Jones has experience playing and coaching premierships at all levels and would love nothing more than to bring the boys through the finals as underdogs and charge towards a grand final. These boys are the spirit of the club and its a great sight to see all the boys cheering on the other grades every week after their game.
Awards from the weekends games
First Grade Players Player : Brent Grose
First Grade man of match: Aaron Beath/Sam Clune
Reserve Grade awards: Luke Gallagher and Matty Syron
Under 19’s: Jack Eager and Michael Felgate
Sure Plumb Players Player: Luke Gallagher
Shannon Jarvis 10/8/2014
