ALBURY coach Josh Cale was left ruing the weather after Gundagai stunned the Thunder in a classic Group Nine ambush at Anzac Park yesterday.
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Only a week after taking Southcity to the brink in Wagga, Gundagai again outlined its premiership credentials with a barnstorming 16-6 victory over the dual Group Nine champions.
Playing Albury very much at its own power game, Gundagai used an impressive combination of brute strength and skill to send Albury crashing to a shock loss in the hills.
Given tremendous momentum by hefty forwards Rulon Nutira and Vincent Brown, the Tigers eventually got home on the abundant ability and daring of exciting hooker James Luff.
In a performance absolutely bristling with quality, Luff scored two almost identical tries to help deliver only Albury's second loss of the season.
As the Tigers players later belted out a hearty rendition of their theme song, Cale took stock of the carnage, which included a worrying wrist injury for skipper Lou Goodwin.
Never keen to offer excuses, Cale said Gundagai's "smarter" kicking game had kept the pressure on the Thunder - and proved a game-breaker.
The Thunder coach also admitted Albury had been caught out by a rare nemesis.
"The weather didn't help," Cale said.
"Southcity also beat us in wet."
Beaten earlier in the year by the Bulls at greasy Harris Park, the Thunder crashed again yesterday as the Tigers relished the rain and made a pertinent statement about their premierships stocks.
Likewise, Albury's once steel-like grip on the Group Nine minor premiership - and a straight-forward tile at a third straight grand final - is looking just a little shaky.
Significantly, the Thunder are now even under threat from Southcity to keep top spot on the Group Nine table.
Next Sunday will mark a day of reckoning for Albury.
In another late-season blockbuster, the Thunder will play Southcity at Greenfield Park on Sunday, with the winner set to secure first place for the finals and a home major semi-finals.
For the loser, however, there will be the distressing prospect of duelling beforehand with Gundagai in a qualifying final on September 6.
As usual, Cale yesterday refsued to hide from Gundagai's authoritative effort in a game of missed chances from both teams.
"It was a tough," he said.
"We were a bit down I think.
"Our attack was off, but our defence and determination were right."
On a day when referee Scott Muir was furiously blowing penalties, the Thunder simply butchered what should have been tries, while the Tigers also had a couple of near misses.
Ultimately, Luff was the difference.
The young hooker outwitted Albury to score a try from dummy half in the 23rd minute and repeated the dose with exactly the same manoeuvre in the 75th minute.
On both occasions, Luff jumped in after Nutira blasted his way to within metres of the Albury line.
The Thunder's failure to make the most of opportunities was highlighted on the scoreboard.
For one of the rare times in the past three years, Albury was restricted to just one try, which was created by a chip by Cameron Breust and posted by an unmarked Daniel Jacobs.
Twice in the second half the Thunder broke the shackles of Gundagai's resilient defence, but near-certain tries were snuffed out by poor or ineffective execution.
There was neither from James Luff, Nutira, fullback Dane O'Hehior or lock Mark Elphick.
