A LENGTH of the field try to centre Drey Mercy sealed Old Bar's scrappy 38-24 win over Forster-Tuncurry in the Group Three Rugby League game played at Tuncurry.
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This was Old Bar's first match since June 19 due to postponements caused by wet weather while the Hawks haven't played since June 26 for the same reason. It showed. The error count from both sides was high. It was like a game at season's start, not midway through the campaign.
The Pirates were leading 20-12 and defending on their line when Mercy latched onto a Forster cross-kick. He was immediately in space and raced clear. It looked as though the cover would grab him, but Mercy managed to avoid the chasers and plant the ball under the posts.
Co-centre Danny Russell added the extras and the Pirates were in front 26-12. Old Bar always looked in control from there, even though the Hawks hit back with a converted try to interchange forward Anthony Kerwin to reduce the margin to 26-18 with 14 left on the clock.
Old Bar captain-coach Mick Henry admitted it wasn't standout performance.
"It was very messy,'' Henry said.
"Our completion rate was shocking. To Forster's credit I thought they played well and scored three or four easy tries through the middle.
"We'll definitely have to rectify that before next week.
'We'll take the two points, but we're not going to take too much more out of that,'' Henry added.
Forster coach Tom Freeman said the Hawks paid the price for an indifferent effort in the second half.
"We played poorly in the second half and if you do that, you're going to get beat,'' Freeman noted.
"We're slowly getting a competitive side. But a couple of little things aren't going our way.
"We have lapses and poor management in the middle. We're getting better, but we still need to improve.''
Rival props Shannon Martin (Old Bar) and Liam Simon (Forster-Tuncurry) were both strong and were the best on ground, with the rest tending to mix the good with the ordinary.
The Hawks were first on the board via a try to Nathan Campbell and this was converted by Blake English. Old Bar responded with a well executed try that finished with Jordan Worboys sending Tom Dooker over. The conversion was astray but Worboys was prominent again soon after when he gave winger Blake Elford some space and he did the rest and it was 8-6.
Martin laid on a try for five-eighth Jake Hazard and Russell kicked the conversion to stretch Old Bar's lead to 14-6 before Simon crashed over from close range and English added the extras for the Hawks. Old Bar trooped off at the break leading 14-12.
The Pirates were never headed in the second stanza. Steve Sansom celebrated his return to football with a try after a scramble for the ball over the line and this was followed by Mercy's individual effort.
Dooker scored a second with 10 minutes left and winger Joe Hinton pounced on a kick from Henry to cross for Old Bar's final try. Russell kicked all the second half conversions.
Kyle Bourke scored Forster's last try, the goal kicked by five-eighth Aaron Hill.
"Worst game of the season,'' an Old Bar player muttered as the players trooped off at fulltime.
Maybe not the worst. But certainly a candidate.
