Sport
Devils make a rod for their own back in Casino debacle Story & photo John Campbell
On Sunday morning, regardless of the outcome of their away fixture at Casino, the Byron Bay Red Devils were almost assured of a top-three finish on the NRRRL ladder. By sundown they had been relegated to fourth after Kyogle defeated the competition’s high-flyers, Murwillumbah, and the Devils themselves put in one of their poorest efforts of the season. In going down 28–6 to the Cougars – and it was worse than it reads, for the hosts ran in six tries to one – the Bay have left themselves with the daunting task of now beating all four of the other top-five aspirants if they are to claim the champion’s crown. They are capable of doing that, but a mighty improvement on last week’s performance is imperative. In truth, it was a pretty awful game of footy, with no
Byron captain Ryan O’Connell thought he was playing for the North Sydney Bears when he put his socks on on Sunday morning. He might as well have been. The Red Devils were well off the pace in receiving a 28–6 drubbing.
player more influential than the ref, who was called upon to blow the pea out of his whistle as countless mistakes and infringements were made.
After overnight rain heavy enough for the Mullumbimby Giants v Ballina clash to be cancelled, Casino kicked off under a cloudless blue sky. The
major attraction for the crowd was the Cougars’ number four, Matt King. The former Storm and Souths centre/winger, star of Origin and tests, was back
in his hometown to add a little class to what promised to be an enthralling encounter. His Jimi Hendrix hair looked fab, and he put his winger over in the corner with his first touch of the ball, but Dally Messenger himself could not have made a silk purse out of the sow’s ear that was served up over the ensuing seventyodd minutes. In fairness to the Bay, they lost Tyler Blanch, their hooker and dummy-half, in the warm-up and had injured players dropping like flies before they were able to settle. Cameron Green and Hemi Mullen succumbed, while forward leader Simon Kelly soldiered on though as crook as Rookwood. Tireless Peter Flannery raked a 40/20 out of the blue to put the Devils on the attack, but no sooner had they got close to Casino’s line than they squandered their opportunity by spilling the pill.
Within minutes Casino’s fiveeighth was hurtling towards the line with Byron’s defenders hanging off him like he was carrying the Ebola virus. By the time somebody decided to tackle him it was too late and a trend was emerging. The Devils were asleep at the wheel. Casino scored a third, unconverted try before William King was first to a loose ball after a chip from Ryan O’Connell to put Byron on the board. Billy Goldsmith steered his kick between the posts and the Devils were behind only 12–6 at the break. They appeared to be asserting themselves in the battle up front, but it was as close as they were to get. Casino came out hungrier and a little more composed for the second forty and Byron were never really in the hunt. The sides meet again on Saturday in the first elimination semifinal. The Devils will win it with your support.
Byron 2 Bruns Beach Run Heading toward the ‘red zone’ The rain kept away for Sunday’s running of the Byron 2 Bruns Beach Run, a fundraiser for the Brunswick SLSC. First across the line was Tim Brebner (pictured) in a time of 38:04 and first for the women in fourth place overall was Heli Murray in 44:13. In first place for the juniors was Lennox Bird with a time of 55:29 and for the girls, Chloe Lang crossed the line in 58.38. More information and the link to results can be found at the Run’s website: http://byron2brunsbeachrun.com.
Tick tock on the soccer clock Dogwhistle
The pendulum swung true on Saturday when the Park Hotel Byron Bay Rams travelled to Lismore to meet arch-rivals Lismore Thistles for the penultimate round of the 2014 season. The Reserve grade match was yet another frustrating outing for the Byron boys. The second-string Rams, despite totally dominating proceedings in the first half, couldn’t seem to find the net. The Thistles’ reserves, conversely, rarely made it into Rams territory but did manage to win a penalty and lead 1–0 into the break. The second half saw more Rams’ attacks broken on the Thistles’ defence until a late cross from Tane Meek found the head of Steve Kirkpat-
rick who, in turn, found the net to equalise and salvage a point for Byron. The Premier Rams fared no better. With the Minor Premiership already secured, the Rams Prems had little to play for beyond their longstanding rivalry with Thistles. The Lismore squad, however, had second spot in their sights and a lot of pride on the line. While still down a couple of key personnel, the Rams played their usual fast and efficient football but seemed to lack the hunger and passion of the Thistles. Despite solid performances from the entire team, and the outstanding work-rate Kazuhiro Tsukamoto, Michael Kelly, Barry Wood and Jono Pierce, the Rams never quite hit their straps. Tsukamoto ran riot
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among the Thistles’ defence and James Tomlinson had yet another titanic battle with Thistles’ towering defender, Max Hospers, but the Rams remained scoreless. Thistles once again made the most of their forays into Rams’ territory and finished a gruelling match two goals up. Byron keeper, Chris Jones, lost his usual composure after Thistles’ second goal and found himself looking at a red card. Coach Damon Bell will have to find a replacement keeper for the final match of the season against Lismore Workers. The final round, a home game for the Rams, will most likely decide who takes second spot for 2014 and will undoubtedly be another hardfought battle. Reserves kick off at 1pm and the Prems at 3pm.
Brian Mollet
Nick Shand found his inner champion when the newsletter he produced to protest rough treatment of locals by the constabulary became The Echo we all know, read and line the catbox with today. The eighteenth season of the Nick Shand Memorial cricket series has been one of the closest on record and on Sunday the inner champions were coming out like Thorpie as the Left Bankers played Main Arm in the battle of the hill-dwellers. Lomath Oval was as damp and sloppy as your first pash but both sides were keen to play as Bucko of the Arm won the toss and chose to bat. Punk rocker Dan opened the batting with Brian and the batting sparkled like the wet grass. Dan (32 n/o) lifted one off his chin over deep forward square and raced to retirement like a state Liberal MP. Experienced as a Hendrix groupie, Brian looked like doing the same until Leon (2–18) and fab Phil ended his run on 25. Steady bowling from Blake, Dave and Eli (2–8) reeled the Arm in. Gaz put one into the skatepark and was threatening more but Leon’s diving effort at fly slip meant the skaters could take their helmets off again. Bucko (30 n/o) and a very jetlagged Bourkey eased the score along and GregO had a swing at the end of
the innings but the steady Bankers limited the Armers to a middling 151. The Bankers’ reply stuttered early as Bucko, who was obviously playing well beyond the pain threshold, wound up the old frame for a quick early spell downwind. Aaron (25) played nicely until Dan skidded one through his guard, and Scruff and Eli also made good starts but fell short of bringing home the smoked pork comestibles. The old Main Arm boys only needed four wickets to win and force a countback for the finals berths and were streaking home with a wet sail. Russell (32 n/o) took the game away from the Armers, however, with a studied burst of hitting including 22 off one over (the bowler’s name has been withheld to protect what is left of his ego).
Blake and Mattie then enjoyed themselves cracking up the winning runs with the pressure off, guaranteeing top spot for the Bankers and condemning six-time Shand champs Main Arm to the dreadful role of finals spectators. The unseen committee then duly convened, and after due obeisance and the uttering of the ancient formulas, brought forth the invisible abacus. Results were punched in with extreme prejudice, revealing Left Bank (1) with three wins, Suffolk Swingers (2) 20.48, Geckos (3) 17.4, and Byron Full-Tossers (4) 13.4 based on runs scored divided by wickets conceded. Next week’s first semi is thus the Left Bankers versus the Byron Full-Tossers; anticipation levels are sure to hit the red zone by Sunday.
SPORTS RESULTS ARE POSTED ONLINE EACH WEEK IN ECHONETDAILY Find them under the Sport menu or go straight to this link:
www.echo.net.au/category/sport/results The Byron Shire Echo August 19, 2014 45