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Red Devils answer their critics with stirring victory Story & photo John Campbell
Perhaps in expectation of a big effort from the Bay after the shambles at Casino, an estimated bumper crowd of 4,157 turned up at Red Devil Park on Sunday to see the home side redeem themselves. And it was as well that they did, for it was a ball-tearer of a game, with the boys beating the more fancied Northern United by 23–12 in a high-stakes, high-energy NRRRL clash. The team effort was unstinting across the board, but it was Byron’s wily captain, Ryan ‘the Crab’ O’Connell, who was there to make the difference when it mattered, racking up three tries at critical moments. The first, after ten minutes, came when he feigned to pass to the open side from dummy-half but scuttled over on the blind. Joey ‘Flash’ Gordon’s
Byron’s Fraser ‘the labradoodle’ Jones wore a matching mouthguard at Red Devil Park on Sunday.
fantastic sideline conversion gave Byron exactly the confidence-boosting start they needed. The battle was then waged on different fronts. The
Dirrawongs wanted to go wide at every opportunity and the Devils took a more conservative, steady-as-shegoes approach. Against the run of play, Bill ‘the Lion’
King latched on to a loose pass to sprint 80 metres and put the visitors on the board, but the setback seemed to strengthen Byron’s resolve rather than undermine it.
Possession and penalties favoured United, but the Devils’ tackling was up to everything that was thrown at it. The stalemate was broken when Brad ‘Bruce’ Lees made one of his trademark blockbusting runs, on the back of which O’Connell cannily found his way over the chalk, again from dummy-half. A 12–6 lead at the break would not be enough to take the spoils, but it was fair reward, and the Devils are the sort of Jekyll-and-Hyde outfit that thrive on the prospect of converting promise to triumph – of chasing Benny Elias’s famous ‘carrot at the end of the rainbow’. United ambled back from the sheds like Brown’s cows. If they counted on Byron crumbling before them they were quickly shaken out of such expectation. Like a politician’s suit, the Devils were all over them and, as the skies darkened, the partisans on the
western hill started to make their vocal presence felt. A couple of the club’s young guns on debut in Agrade – five-eighth Beau ‘Geste’ Clark and centre Toby ‘Tyler’ Ryan – combined for a try and United responded in quick time, but when Gordon, suave as Cary Grant in a dinner suit, slotted a fieldgoal for 19–12, we all breathed a sigh of relief. The lights were on as heavy dark clouds rolled over Red Devil Park. Byron had showed the faithful what they are capable of when the gauntlet is hurled at their feet. The boys’ defence was epic and their absolute will to win palpable. You could tell that United felt it too. All that was left was for O’Connell to make one of his twist-and-turn, jink-andweave runs to the line for his third try. Well done, Devils – you’re the real deal.
Prems and reserves seven for seven Byron union jubilant in Lismore Dogwhistle
Any lingering doubts about the depth of The Northern Hotel Byron Bay Rams’ talent pool were dispelled with two emphatic victories. In a display of skill, professionalism and endurance, Byron’s Premiers and Premier Reserves teams outplayed their respective opposites in Goonellabah on Saturday and Lismore Workers on Sunday. Saturday’s 10–1 goal blitz of Goonellabah began with the Rams Reserves demolishing the Hornets Reserves in a 7–1 drubbing. Steve Kirkpatrick made another hat-trick while Jordy Campbell and Tom Ruhl bagged two apiece. The Byron boys came out firing in the Premiers match, with Tyson Kaye scoring in the fifteenth minute. The Rams dominated the midfield and, with the defence at its best under the Packham brothers, the Rams controlled the park. James Tomlinson put away the second goal after a fine lead up by Conor Cannon. The second half was more the same with Sam Owens making it 3–0. Sunday’s outing in Lismore against third-placed Workers produced another demonstration of the Rams’ controlled, quality football in both grades.Rising to the challenge of one of the competition’s top squads, the Byron boys performed with style, discipline and finesse.
The Byron Reserves began their attack from the opening whistle, with a first goal to a header from Herick Schuenemann. Steve Kirkpatrick pounced on a desperate clearance, tapping the ball into the back of the net with the outside of his foot. Will Ennis came off the bench and quickly took the score to 3–0. Ennis closed the Byron account at 4–0 in the second half. Workers managed a consolation goal from a penalty to finish the match at 4–1. The Premiers match looked like being more of a contest early on, with the Workers’ defending strongly against a heavy Rams attack. The Rams’ superiority began to tell by the twenty minute mark but the Workers’ defence held on to go into half time at 0–0. A penalty early in the second half saw Tyson Kaye open the scoring. Five minutes later, James Tomlinson hustled the ball into the net from an intense goal-mouth skirmish. At the fifteen-minute mark, a penalty to Workers took the score to 2–1. A big cross from Tyson Kaye found Sam Owens outside the box. Owens finished with a clinical strike that left the keeper gaping and took the score to 3–1. Workers fought back hard but Byron moved into a feeding frenzy – hammering the Workers’ goal in the closing stages. Michael
34 May 27, 2015 The Byron Shire Echo
Kelly carved up the Workers’ defence with a great flanking run, crossed to James Tomlinson whose shot was deflected by the keeper. Kelly picked up the loose ball and took the final score to 4–1. With both grades now on seven wins from seven outings, the Rams face perhaps their biggest test this Sunday in Lismore when they meet last year’s Grand Final winners, Richmond Rovers. Reserves kick off at 12.30 and the Prems at 2.30.
The Engineer
The Byron Bay Rugby Union team song was sung loud and proud on Saturday as the boys in blue and white managed a rare win against Lismore City. The Bay had the arduous task of travelling to Lismore to face the boys in green, which is no easy feat. Byron’s big forward pack ensured clean ball for the starting halves combination of Luc Boyer and Sion King and they responded strongly
Big game for Bruns v Alstonville Gary Osbiston
Bruns side kicked off and were in game mode passing the ball about and creating the first shot of the game, which whistled past the goal post. The Breakers had most of the play in the opening 15 minutes. It wasn’t long before Ruby found herself running onto a perfect through ball and placed the ball past the keeper into the back of the net 1–0 Bruns. Alstonville attacked from the restart and fired a shot at goal but stand-in keeper Georgia saved it. The Breakers forced a corner. Julia took the kick but the away side defended well. Four times this happened; on the fifth corner kick Jana called for a short corner and had a shot at goal but it was
blocked. She gained control of the ball and took aim and placed the ball high and wide of the keeper 2–0. At halftime whistle blow the Breakers were up by two goals. Lily and Georgia swapped positions as the second half began. The home side were controlling the game and missed many chances. The whole team working as one was a joy to watch. With only minutes remaining, Georgia latched onto a loose ball in the penalty and blasted the ball into the back of the net 3–0. The home supporters couldn’t believe the score line as this team has never beaten Alstonville. The full-time whistle sounded to huge cheers from the crowd. The girls are applauded off the ground. What a massivegame to win.Well done, girls.
with some fast ball movement to our centre pairing of Chris Ealey and Jascha Saeck, who were looking dangerous on the outside flanks. Insert some fast footwork and strong support work from Harvey Bell and the Bay took first blood within the opening 10 minutes with a try to Harvey in the corner. On a number of occasions early on Lismore were able to burst through the Byron defence and pressure their try line, but the Bay responded in emphatic fashion by denying any challenge that came their way. Some solid counterattacking rugby and strong running from Byron’s Craig Wallace and Aaron Shakeshaft gave the Bay some good field position in which they capitalised through their Kiwi charger and Number 8 Michael Karl, who crossed the line to the familiar cry of ‘score Mikey!’ Sustained attacking pressure and strong work from the forwards saw the Bay grab another try before half time with Troy Wynter crossing the line and Sion King converting his third kick in a row to put the visitors up 21–0 at half time. In the second half Byron’s scrum, led by Jack Elborn and Charles Woollard, was a thing of beauty and had the Lismore pack struggling to maintain forward momentum. It was the hard work from the Bay’s forwards that allowed the backs freedom
to move out wide leading to another try to Harvey and a further two tries to Mikey Karl, who bagged a hat-trick for the game. An incredibly rare sight for the Bay was off the field, where eight reserves sat impatiently on the bench awaiting a call up. The tough conditions resulted in some fresh legs taking the field and it didn’t take long for both Josh Smith and Eddie O’Hare to impose themselves onto the game and ruffle the Lismore pack. Some individual brilliance from Eddie had the Byron crowd on its feet and when the Bay’s big winger Nick Fischer went on a rampaging run to finish agonisingly short of the line, Brandon Lewsey playing at fly half charged across the line for a try that was reminiscent of a prop crashing over for a five pointer. As the final whistle was blown a jubilant Byron team and supporters celebrated the 47–0 win over Lismore City. The Bay has their biggest test of the season this week taking on the reigning Premiers Wollongbar–Alstonville at home. This is a big game for our boys so please come on down to the Byron Rec Fields on Saturday. Wear your blue and white for a 3.30pm kick-off with food, drink and entertaining rugby. Bring yourself, partners and friends for a fun Saturday afternoon. Go The Bay!
Byron Shire Echo archives: www.echo.net.au/byron-echo