Dubbo Rhinos charging at the competition

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  Dave Gordon does his best to avoid the Mudgee defence during his side’s 28-26 win over the Wombats on Saturday. Photo: CHERYL BURKE

  
  

DUBBO Rhinos seem to have found a comfortable home in the Australian National Field Days Cup competition and they proved they are one of the title contenders with a determined 28-26 win over Mudgee Wombats at Apex Oval on Saturday.

In a battle between the second and third-placed teams on the ANFD Cup North ladder it took a penalty goal from Rhinos fly-half Palei Tonga after the full-time siren to hand the Dubbo side a 28-26 victory.

While the Rhinos celebrated, the Wombats were in damage control after co-coach Justin Sutherland and captain Rob Thraves were seen in a heated exchange after the full-time siren.

In an error-riddled but gritty match Dubbo started the better and scored first through Ricky Wetherall in just the fourth minute.

Tonga missed the conversion but he made up for that nine minutes later when he slotted a penalty to give the Rhinos an 8-0 lead.

Mudgee hit back hard though, with a pair of tries to fullback Brad James and one to Thraves giving the visitors a 19-8 lead at half-time.

As they did in the first half the Rhinos came out strong after the break, with a Tonga penalty and a converted try to Dave Gordon bringing the score back to 19-18 in favour of the Wombats.

When Wetherall scored his second try of the contest in the 60th minute the Rhinos regained the lead but just five minutes later Mudgee utilised its strength at the set piece when Dave Jessiman peeled off the back of a scrum to score under the posts and give his side back a one-point advantage.

The scoreline stayed that way until the dying seconds, when all Mudgee had to do was maintain possession and wait for the clock to tick down.

But they couldn’t do it.

To the Rhinos credit they forced a turnover and then earned a penalty 30 metres out and just a couple of metres in from the sideline.

Tonga’s left boot did the rest, with his teammates mobbing him as they took delight in celebrating their seventh win of the 2013 season.

“Our boys really stuck strong which is something I have been trying to teach them,” Rhinos coach Ra Dean said.

“Mudgee looked like they were going to get away from us late in the first half but I just told the boys to go out in the second half and enjoy themselves and they did that.

“I wasn’t sure what to think when Palei lined the penalty up. I was standing right behind him and I thought it was going right but it faded back thankfully.

“That’s a good win for us. Mudgee are a good side so to get a win over them is good for our confidence and our place on the ladder.”

Mudgee co-coach George Hamilton said his side had been outplayed, and failed to blame a lack of numbers for the loss.

The Wombats had only two reserves on the sidelines throughout the contest but Hamilton didn’t want to offer any excuses.

“We gave them a chance and they took it,” he said.

“We had the lead a couple of times in the game and in the end we weren’t able to hold on to it.

“If we had been able to hold the ball there at the end it would have been a different result but we didn’t do enough right at the end to win the game.”

- DUBBO RHINOS 28 (Ricky Wetherall 2, Dave Gordon tries; Palei Tonga 2 convs, 3 pens) def MUDGEE WOMBATS 26 (Brad James 2, Dave Jessiman, Rob Thraves tries; Thraves 3 convs)

Dubbo Rhinos charging at the competition