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Byron secure finals berth
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Too much fun in Byron to Bruns
The Engerneer
Byron Bay have capped off a great year in the Far North Coast Rugby Union First Grade Competition with a win over Southern Cross University securing them second place overall and a start in the major semifinal. The Bay will take on the undefeated Wollongbar Alstonville on Saturday with a spot in the Grand Final up for grabs. Byron finished the last game of the regular season in style, with a comprehensive 57–5 win over the Gold Rats at home. The Bay looked to take control from the kick-off and some good early pressure from the home side had captain Harvey Bell scoring in the corner for the opening try of the game. From the restart, strong running from the Bay’s forwards had the Gold Rats’ defence back-pedalling. This provided the platform for the backs to spread the ball wide and exhibit some pace. The backs were led by the Bay’s flyhalf Brandon Lewsey, who was orchestrating the plays superbly. After more attacking pressure, Byron’s big Will Aisake rampaged over the line for the home side’s second try. This sparked an attacking onslaught and it wasn’t long before Byron’s prop-turnedtry-scoring-machine Jack Elborn crashed over under the posts for the Bay’s third try. Not to be outdone by the forwards, Brandon Lewsey ran through a gap like a gazelle in flight and sent Jascha
CHESS
by Ian Rogers Play at Byron Services Club, Mon 7pm It might be thought that Li Chao’s impressive match win this month over Peter Leko would be cause for celebration in China, but Li’s rise up the world rankings – now #14 – is resulting in severe embarrassment for the Chinese Chess Federation. Li, 26, has been banned from all Chinese teams and tournaments for more than a year. The details of the black ban are murky but it involves a dispute with the sponsor of one of the powerful Beijing clubs, who then exerted influence to have Li shunned nationally. So, despite breaking into the top 20 and now knocking on
Jascha Saeck crosses the Byron line for a Hat Trick. Photo Peter Moore.
Saeck streaking away for his first try of the game. Byron’s speedster James Oakley chipped in with a try of his own before the halftime whistle that saw the blue and white leading 33–0. From the start of the second half Byron made their intentions clear as birthday boy Jascha Saeck ran away for his second try. The dazzling inside centre finished with a hat-trick for the game. Another try each to James Oakley and Harvey Bell put the game well out of reach and capped off a successful 80 minutes for the Bay. The team song was sung loud and proud as coach Paul Jeffery nominated Brandon Lewsey as best on field with mentions given to Jascha Saeck, Harvey Bell, Jesse Novley and Miles Wood. The big test for the Bay is this coming Saturday, with the major semifinal being played at the Pioneers’ home ground in Wollongbar. There is a supporters’ bus heading to the game with seats available – keep an eye on the website / Facebook throughout the week for the door of the top 10, invitations to elite tournaments have eluded him, perhaps because for Chinese players they tend to be routed through the national federation. The win over Leko, a former World Championship challenger, may change that. Though Leko has drifted down the rankings, he remains a formidable match player, especially playing in his hometown of Szeged. However, though Li was frequently outplayed strategically, the Chinese GM kept his head and waited for tactical misses by Leko. In the fourth of the six-game contest Leko (White) won a pawn but found that his opponent had set up a deadly pin. From the diagram, left, Li continued 40...Rf2! 41.Qc1 Rxf3 42.Nb1 Qf6 Patience, serving to illustrate White’s helplessness. 43.Qd2 Rh3 44.Qe2 Rh1! Threatening 45...Rxb1+. 45.Nd2 Qd4 46.Qe3 Qg4! 0–1 A surprising resignation but the threat of 47...Qd1! is unstoppable.
Now Li is asking some awkward questions. Can the ban on him be continued when it may cost China Olympic gold in 2016? And should the CCF be bypassed and Li invited directly to elite tournaments?
42 August 26, 2015 The Byron Shire Echo
more information. Everyone is encouraged to head along and support our local boys are they vie for a guaranteed place in the Grand Final. Kick-off will be at 3.15pm at Lyle Park Rugby Ground, Wollongbar. As always, Go The Bay!
The fourth Byron to Bruns Beach Run was held on Sunday over a glorious sun filled morning with a record 236 entrants. It is the major fundraiser for the Brunswick SLSC and a total of $6000 was raised with all proceeds going to the club on the day. The winners were Aaron Hannah in a time of 39.17 in the men’s division and Jo Milligan with 50.37 in the women’s. For results and photos visit: www.byron2brunsbeachrun.com.
Byron Rams best in the end Dogwhistle
Saturday’s final round of the Football Far North Coast Premier League competition saw reigning poinstcore champions, the Northern Hotel Byron Bay Rams, finish the season with a comfortable 1–0 victory over Alstonville. The Byron Bay squad has led the field for the entire season and finished the competition seven points clear at the top of the table. Not so fortunate were the Reserve Grade Rams who, despite an emphatic 5–0 win over ’Villa’s reserves, had to settle for second spot after last week’s loss to Rovers. With a number of players being rested for the finals series, Saturday’s squad was
very lean and many of the Reserves squad pulled double shifts in the Prems. The Reserves overcame the slippery conditions to completely dominate their Alstonville hosts. Conor Cannon opened the scoring just four minutes in off a cross from Will Ennis. Seven minutes later a cross from Tai Flanagan found Ennis up front, who finished cleanly to make it 2–0. Moments later, Herick Schuenemann flew high above the pack to head in a sweetly delivered corner from Cannon. With the lead well established and the Alstonville side looking demoralised, coach Jeremy began rotating his players to conserve his resources for the Premiers
match. Minutes into the second half, a scrappy goalmouth skirmish had the ball bouncing from player to post and was finally resolved with another goal-scoring header from Schuenemann taking the lead to 4–0. A Villa handball in the final quarter gave Byron a free kick from just outside the box. Steve Kirkpatrick made no mistake and the match finished with the Rams Reserves five goals up. In the Premiers match, the Rams faced a tough young Alstonville side that was eager to take some points from the champions. With half of the Reserves backing up for the Prems, and many of the regular top side resting up, the Rams had a battle on their hands. While they
had the upper hand throughout, much of the match was spent in gritty midfield battles punctuated by attacking breaks from the Rams. The tedium was finally broken when speedster Tyson Kaye broke away from the pack, sprinted from the halfway and slipped a ball past the keeper to give Byron the lead. A penalty to Alstonville in the dying moments looked like taking a point from the Rams but a brilliant save from keeper Chris Jones preserved the win for the Rams. As Pointscore Champions, the Prems now have a week off while the Reserves play their first semifinal against third-placed rival, Lismore Thistles, at the Rec Grounds this Sunday at 2.30.
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Local boys proudly represented Byron Bay Public School and the region at the NRL Legends Shield Rugby League 7s in Sydney last week. The team of Luke Smith, Tex Hembrow, Luke Helmore-Jarrett, Harrison Rutter, Ky Sheldrick, Kolbi Wood, Alex Graham, Seth Carter, Sam Sheridan and Jasper Graham with manager Sue Spargo and coach Andrew Sheridan joined more than 600 schools across 25 regions who had participated in carnivals across NSW to earn a spot in the finals. Byron Bay Public School came in third position in the Shield Competition, eventually being defeated by St Columbkille’s Corrimal who went on to win the shield. Byron Shire Echo archives: www.echo.net.au/byron-echo