Sport
The Lion King reigns on a rainy Red Devil Park Story & photo John Campbell
Byron Bay has continued its progress towards a possible top-three spot in the NRRRL play-offs with Sunday’s hardfought 26–16 victory over Mullumbimby. Local derbies can never be anticipated as foregone conclusions, regardless of where the antagonists might stand on the ladder. The Giants have had a less than glittering season, but they have never turned it up. Thwarting the more fancied Red Devils at a crucial time in their finals push would have pleased them no end. That they were not quite good enough to pull off the upset was not through want of trying – it’s just that the Bay had that touch of class whenever the balance threatened to topple the visitors’ way. Miserably cold conditions kept the crowd to an estimated 3,227, not too many of whom would have been impressed by a scrappy opening
Mullum’s Grant Cook comes to grief in the arms of handsome Hemi Mullen at Red Devil Park on Sunday
of penalties and knock-ons. As is so often the case, a score settled things. Ben ‘Spider’ Webber took advantage of hesitant tacklers to run about 60 metres in covering 30 and planting the pill in the
corner. Shortly after, Bill ‘the Lion’ King got the first of his hattrick of tries. The elusive centre looked threatening every time he touched the ball and it came as no surprise when
Byron under-12s dominate
he took a pass on the blind, forty out, and threaded his way to the line. Neither did it come as a surprise when the Giants’ raging bull, Jack ‘La Motta’ Govett, stormed in to make it 8–6 to the Bay at
Ballina/Grafton team (53– 20). They lost to Yamba and Lismore. Byron girl’s coach Matt Ogle said it was a great day for all players. ‘The girls demonstrated fantastic teamwork and admirable sportsmanship,’ said Matt. ‘It was a fantastic opportunity for some inexperienced players to get a taste of the game at this level. ‘We were proud to host a smoothly run fun carnival in our great Byron facilities. It’s wonderful to see how much fun everyone has,’ says Ogle. ‘There’s a great camaraderie developing between the teams.
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‘They’re all here because they love basketball.’ Results for the day were: The team won each of their games by a comfortable margin: Byron v Lismore Yellow 56–18 (Byron win) Byron v Yamba Gold 38–7 (Byron win) Byron v Yamba Black 56–27 (Byron win) Byron v Lismore Blue 36–19 (Byron win) The Byron Bay Basketball Association offers skills training and competitions for all ages. For more information visit www.byronbasketball.com.
chipped cross-field, placing the ball precisely into space behind the onrushing tacklers. It floated through the air in slo-mo, like a dove. Tip-toeing down the western flank, King’s eyes never left it. As the ball dropped, he reached for it and caught it on the tips of his fingers, then flew in under the sticks. It was poetry. Jared ‘Monsieur’ De Thiery relieved Goldsmith of the kicking duties and his conversion made it a near unassailable 22–6. A flurry of tries, including King’s third from a scrum win, rounded up proceedings and, as the weather closed in, all anybody wanted to do was get inside and under a stream of hot water. The Giants had left nothing in the tank – they never do – but fortune has not smiled on them in 2014. The Red Devils were their usual enigmatic selves. They promise much and there is a sense that they just might peak when the moment is right.
Great win for Shand Geckos Brian Mollet
The Byron Bay under-12 boys cleaned up at the third round of the North Coast Shield Basketball competition played at the Byron Regional Sport and Cultural Complex on Sunday. Byron boys’ coach Alvin Caoyonan was thrilled with the team’s performance. ‘The hard work the boys have put in over the past few months has really paid off and showed in their convincing wins,’ he said. ‘It’s great to see basketball back in Byron Bay.’ The Byron under-12 girls also had a good showing over the weekend with a convincing win over the combined
the break. Hemi ‘Sphere’ Mullen put Sam ‘Dolly’ Dwyer through a gap with a deft offload soon after the resumption and Byron were on their way. Unfortunately, the man of the moment from the Bay’s previous outing, against United, William Goldsmith, could not buy a goal all arvo. ‘Peppi’s having a bad-hair day,’ mused the Old Bloke, and what might have been breathing room remained at an uncomfortable 12–6. Byron’s compacted defence had invited circumnavigation throughout, but Mullum rarely got around it, so tirelessly did the Devils arrive in cover. When it came to slugging their way down the middle, the Giants did so with conviction, but the Devils protected their line with urgency and grunt. After a Giant had been binned for irresponsibly giving lip to the ref, Byron produced the play of the day. On half-way, Webber
Sport fans, diehards and the unhealthily obsessed were all out in force on Sunday as the two longest-running teams in the Nick Shand series, the Geckos and Main Arm, brought out their carefully nurtured inner champions and attempted to coax, cajole or browbeat them towards victory. Lomath Oval was covered by a doona of fluffy cloud, quite warm and dimly lit; it was a cosy and almost romantic day for cricket as Bucko of the Arm won the toss and invited the Geckos to bat. James and Adeha, the world’s oldest teenager, got off to a bright start for the Geckos until Connor’s wrong-un smoked a few synapses in James’s mind. Main Arm’s veteran battling Baz (3–16) then seemed to find an extra leg (but not in a Rolf Harris way), as he ran out Adeha and went on a wicket spree. Christian (40) slayed a few Main Arm lions as he and Stewie did a repair job on the innings. Anthony (40) and St Seymour then scrambled and thumped the score to 155 at the close and, with a guaranteed spot in the finals for the winner. Lunch was eaten or in some cases imbibed with an air of anticipation.
Grego and Gazza got a few early boundaries for the Arm but then James decided to get into the game, holding a catch off Ali and running out Baz and Grego with lightning throws, like some demented Norse god. It was up to Bucko, known as the team’s co-equal designated representative rather than skipper as Main Arm has 11 captains, and the redoubtable Bourkey to drag the Arm back into contention. On 21 Bucko seared an ear-high hummer backward of square where Christian showed amazing reflexes and some pretty healthy selfpreservation skills to hold the catch of the day. The stubborn Bourkey was joined by cricketing merce-
nary (or floozie) Brian (30) and the total was shrinking faster than Australia’s international reputation for human rights. Needing 12 from the last two overs the Arm prepared to hit out and, like Dolly Parton’s blouse buttons, there was a palpable and imminent tension in the air. Anthony (2–8) closed out a great win for the Geckos, his darting in-dippers too much for the gallant but defeated Main Armers. Next week, as so many players have splinters in their arses, the scheduled Tossers versus Swingers game will slide back to the week following the next fixture, the battle of the valleys between Left Bank and Main Arm.
Sports Results are posted online each week in Echonetdaily: www.echo.net.au/category/sport/results The Byron Shire Echo July 22, 2014 43