SOUTHCITY exacted a little grand final revenge in a 44-point thumping of Albury Thunder at Harris Park yesterday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Following a dreadful performance in last year’s grand final, the Bulls this time charged away with the match.
Three tries in the back end of the first half gave Southcity a 22-4 lead at half-time.
The Bulls then put on another 26 unanswered points to record a 48-4 win, extending their unbeaten streak to six this season.
The superior kicking games of Southcity halves Nathan Rose and Kyle McCarthy proved to be a big difference.
The pair put Thunder’s back three under plenty of pressure.
However a 15-minute horror patch either side of half time was the most costly for the Thunder, which was in touch for the opening 30 minutes.
Pani Manawatu dived over to score from dummy half to open the scoring for Southcity before Joe Silafau hit back for the Thunder as neither team got on top.
The Thunder trailed 6-4 10 minutes from half-time, until the Bulls fired up to score five tries in the following 15 minutes.
It was a show of force the under-strength Thunder had no reply to.
“We had a goal to stick to the basics, complete our sets and defend well and I think that’s where the points come from in the back end of each half,” Southcity coach Nick Skinner said.
“I was pretty pleased with that.”
Skinner thought his team’s superior energy made a big difference.
After the heartbreak of a record-breaking grand final loss to Albury in September, the win goes a little to taking away the pain.
However both clubs field new-look teams this year.
“We are just plugging away each week and looking to improve every week,” Skinner said.
“The next three weeks or so we’ve got some tough games coming up and will be looking to keep improving.”
Southcity will take on former coach Daniel Fitzhenry and fullback Scott Bowden when they play Temora next Sunday.
With injured captain-coach Ben Jeffery watching on from the sidelines, Albury is far from the premiership force they’ve been in the past.
With wins over Cootamundra, Tumbarumba, and Tumut to go with losses to Gundagai, Junee, Kangaroos and now the Bulls, the Thunder have slumped to eighth on the Group Nine ladder.