SOUTHCITY extracted a little grand final revenge in the 44-point thumping of Albury at Harris Park on Sunday.
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Following a dreadful performance in last year’s grand final, this time it was the Bulls who charged away with the match.
After three tries in the back end of the second half, Southcity led 22-4 at half-time before putting on another 26 unanswered points to score a 48-4 win and extend their unbeaten streak to six this season.
The superior kicking games of Southcity halves Nathan Rose and Kyle McCarthy was one big difference, with the Thunder back three under plenty of pressure while Albury’s last play options left plenty to be desired.
However a 15-minute horror patch proved the most costly for the Thunder, after a close first 30 minutes.
Pani Manawatu dived over to score from dummy half to open the scoring for Southcity before Joe Silafau hit back for the Thunder as neither team got on top.
The Thunder only trailed 6-4 10 minutes from half-time, until the Bulls fired up to score five tries in the following 15 minutes either side of the break.
It was a show of force the under strength Thunder had no reply to.
Southcity coach Nick Skinner thought the team’s superior energy in attack and defence made a big difference.
“We had a goal to stick to the basics, complete our sets and defend well and I think that’s where the points come from in the back end of each half,” Skinner said. “I was pretty pleased with that.”
After the heartbreak of a record-breaking grand final loss to Albury in September, the win goes a little to taking away the pain.
However both clubs field new-look teams this year.
“We are just plugging away each week and looking to improve every week,” Skinner said.
“The next three weeks or so we’ve got some tough games coming up and will be looking to keep improving.”
Southcity will take on former coach Daniel Fitzhenry and fullback Scott Bowden against Temora next Sunday.
With injured captain-coach Ben Jeffery watching on from the sidelines, Albury is far from the premiership force they’ve been for the past three years.
With wins over Cootamundra, Tumbarumba, and Tumut to go with losses to Gundagai, Junee, Kangaroos and now the Bulls, the Thunder have slumped to eighth on the Group Nine ladder, seven points adrift of the ladder leading Bulls.
Both teams didn’t come away without injury concerns, with Tom Besgrove injuring his groin for the Bulls, while replacement forward Rhys Dawe was stretched off with a serious ankle injury for the Thunder.