CHARLES Sturt University has produced the upset of the season, downing The Rock-Yerong Creek by 12 points on Saturday.
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Sitting last, the Bushpigs proved they weren’t easy beats as a big second half propelled them to a 8.6 (54) to 7.5 (47) victory at Peter Hastie Oval.
CSU kicked five goals straight in the second half and held the reigning premiers goalless in the third quarter.
In the slippery, cold condition it was the Bushpigs who revelled and Wade Archibald was at the heart of the win.
CSU coach Brett Garrett paid tribute to his team’s determination.
“We set ourselves for this game ... it was a complete team performance today, everyone played for the team instead of as individuals,” he said.
“It’s good to get a win in general but to do it against The Rock is a big effort.”
The first half was a tight, physical battle as neither side was able to control the ball.
TRYC held the lead at quarter-time by one point and two points at half-time but CSU broke the shackles in the third term.
The Bushpigs piled on three goals and kept the Magpies goalless to snatch a 15 points lead at the final break.
CSU extended its lead in the final quarter before TRYC kicked two late goals to add some respectability to the scoreline.
The win was even more surprising as CSU were missing key players Sam Balding, Clint Shields and James Smith.
Ash Verhagen was a defensive rock in the backline for CSU and cut off a number of TRYC attacking thrusts.
Tim Garrett kicked three goals for the Bushpigs while Jason Brown was the Magpies leading forward also with three majors. Bryan Ball, Andrew Saddler and coach Michael Mazzocchi were named as TRYC’s best.