BIG-game specialist Ben Jeffery once again rose to the occasion to steer Albury Thunder to a clinical 32-22 victory over Young in Saturday’s elimination final at Greenfield Park.
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Jeffery scored two scorching tries and had a direct hand in two others as his team charged into next weekend’s semi-finals.
While the outgoing coach played down his individual performance, he said Thunder was growing in confidence with each win.
“We have been slowly building over the last couple of weeks and today was another step forward,” Jeffery said.
“I think it was a good effort.
“When the team is going well, it’s easy to play well.
“We have strung a few together now and I thought for 60 per cent of the game we did things right.”
Albury Thunder controlled play for most of the cut-throat final with Chris Seaton scoring in the seventh-minute from a clever Jeffery pass.
The Cherrypickers bounced back in the 17th minute through Haydn Cowled but successive tries to Jeffery and Seaton opened up a 16-6 break which proved too difficult to overcome.
While Jeffery was sensational at fullback and Seaton and Alex Jones dangerous out wide, Thunder’s forwards stepped up superbly to beat the strong Young pack.
David Cowhan, Jon Huggett, Joe Silafau and Andrew Smith pounded the Cherrypickers into submission with their aggressive running.
Young prop Aaron Slater had his moments but struggled to make his usual impact.
“Our forwards were really good,” Jeffery said.
“They started it for us.”
After trailing 20-10 at half-time, Young pegged the deficit back to four points when Matt Murray scored in the 43rd minute.
The Cherrypickers continued to attack for the next 10 minutes but were unable to crack Albury’s defence.
Jeffery then ran 60 metres to score a try and effectively knock Neil Thorman’s side out of the premiership race.
Thunder came through the clash without any major injury concerns and will play next Saturday.
Thunder’s reserves grade defeated Junee 32-18 while the under-18s went down to Brothers 40-12.
ALBURY 32 (B Jeffery 2, C Seaton 2, J Huggett, S Rupapere tries; S Rupapere 4 goals) d YOUNG 22 (T Bush, J Bush, M Murray, H Cowled tries; N Thorman 3 goals) at Greenfield Park. Penalties: 8-7. Gate: $5350
