Gundagai proved they are still a force to be reckoned with this finals series after a dominant win over Junee on Sunday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Coming off a 32-point loss to Albury in the last round of the season, the Tigers looked a totally different outfit in the elimination final at Anzac Park.
Helped by plenty mistakes from the Diesels, the Tigers went out to a 28-0 lead at half-time and continued on with the job to set up a preliminary final date with Brothers on Sunday.
Captain-coach James Smart was thrilled with the 42-10 victory.
“I thought the boys played outstanding in the first half,” Smart said.
“In the second half we kinda struggled to get out of our own end and made it difficult for ourselves, but we really set ourselves up well in the first half.”
Pouncing on an early mistake, Damian Willis opened the scoring after eight minutes before Gundagai used a little bit of luck to add to their lead.
Smart’s ricocheted kick sat up perfectly for Luke Berkrey to score and extend their lead five minutes later.
Willis had his second with 14 minutes left in the half before Berkrey charged over for his double following another handling error from Rusiate Kaliseiwaqa.
Berkrey put in one of his best games of the season and helped set up the next Tigers try.
He made a 50-metre break before Tyron Gorman put Joel Field over just before half-time.
The Tigers rampage continued in the second half when Blake Dunn forced his way over two minutes after the break before Junee finally got on the board.
Taking advantage of a rare opportunity on the Tigers line Tom Diggins scored five minutes later.
Trent Schubach then dived over to make it 32-10 and the Diesels had a few more opportunities to score but struggled to maintain possession.
Coming through their lapse, tries to Jake Smart and James Curgenven sealed the win and sees the Tigers one win short of a fourth straight grand final appearance.
There were more fireworks let off around Anzac Park then there was on it, but Smart admitted it was a relief to win their home semi-final and keep their season alive.
Especially after their five-game winning streak was ended in such a fashion on the border.
“It was a completely different team to what we saw last week,” he said.
“Sitting back last week it just didn’t look like us so it was good to see the boys showed that today.”
Gundagai had plenty of injury concerns heading into the clash, but all those in doubt played.
They now travel to tackle Brothers at Equex Centre as they look to set up a third straight Group Nine grand final against Southcity.
READ MORE
