Varsity fell short and are yet to get off the mark after falling short against Hankin Sheild favourite COB.

A Varsity side fresh off last weeks hard loss came up against the perennially strong COB side, generally considered the bench mark side in the past few seasons. Opening exchanges saw flashes of intense speed and accuracy by the COB backline and strong and effective running by their forward pack. As per usual varsity was faster at the breakdown with both Callum Gibbons and Louie Booth disrupting COB ball on several occasions turning defense into attack, unfortunately over zealous refereeing decisions saw much of this speed become an excuse for the referee to blow his whistle.  As the first half wore on the game started to open up and tactical kicking by both varsity and COB saw both forward packs running back and forth. First points where scored by COB, however, varsity struck back against the run of play when a COB mistake lead to Steve Baron kicking loose ball forward and scoring under the post. Close to half time the penalty count caught up to varsity with Louis booth penalized and yellow carded for hands on the ball.

After the half Varsity attempted to play a more structured game but a lack of players at the breakdown slowed ball and gave their backline little front foot momentum. An early COB try saw them retake the lead until max person intercepted a pass 80meters out and raced to the try line to score. Clean and efficient back play proved too much too close to the line and COB retook the lead with fifteen to play. With ten to go Varsity received a penalty within kicking range but opted to run the ball, this would prove to be a costly error as not only did COB score again but Varsity missed out on what should have been a vital bonus point. Once again the much depleted and injury plagued varsity team performed strongly but at vital times ball retention and decision making cost them. Positives from the match were:  scrambling defense, most notably Rob Forman, the performance of Cameron Crane up against widely regarded scrumager  Talua Hala, both locks Dan Fiztharris and Ben Coch stealing ball and disrupted at line out time, Issac Thompson and Casey Stone’s  tactical kicking, and the contribution of bench players, of note Marama ???? ,who played at out of position at center.

Final Score  22-14