Despite being down ten regular players for their round five fixture versus Old Bar, The Gloucester Cockatoos dug deep with a fourteen-man team scoring ten unanswered tries on Saturday at EJ Trad Oval.
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Skipper Andy Paynter was proud of his team’s effort : “ We decided to keep it simple and play as much in their half of the field as we could, and I thought we did pretty well , given the circumstances.”
The Cockies’ scrum was dominant from the opening whistle and this enabled Stuart “the train without a station” Paynter to pick up the ball at the back of the scrum and make a barnstorming run for the line, to score his first try in eight seasons for the club.
Not to be outdone, the other forwards made some damaging runs, with Tim Threadgate and Mick Wooster prominent and being justly rewarded with two tries a piece. Veteran Dennis Wamsley put in a gutsy eighty-minute effort, with no reserves on the bench to call on. Mitch Meredith continued his early season good form with another bullocking effort in the front row.
The lineout was very scrappy, however with so many players in different positions, this was understandable. Nonetheless, the Cockies rallied hard and did their best to scrap for the possession that was on offer. In the backline, playing with only six players, the Cockies threw the ball around when they were in the attacking zone of the field, with Brent Lawler showing good pace out wide and Chris Marchant scoring a trademark “ Marcho” try.
Fullback Ryan Yates was in scintillating form at the back, making numerous scything runs , which bamboozled the opposition defence all day, resulting in a trifecta of tries .Mick Wooster converted seven of his nine attempts at goal.
Best and Fairest: 3: R.Yates; 2: T.Threadgate ; 1: M.Meredith. Players’ player: T.Threadgate. Gloucester Cockies: 66 (Tries: 3: R.Yates ; 2 : T.Threadgate , M.Wooster; 1: C.Marchant, B.Lawler, S.Paynter ; Conversions: 7 : M.Wooster; 1: M.Meredith) versus Old Bar 0
Next home game versus Manning May 28 Sponsors’ day.