It was Ladies’ Day for the Gwydir club and the wet conditions didn’t dampen the ladies’ fun. From all accounts, a great day was enjoyed by all. 

Third grade kicked off at 1.40pm, the rain teemed down and conditions definitely favoured the bigger Rat pack, if they could control the ball. 

Jay Fletcher opened the scoring with a great individual runaway try, which he converted to give the Rats a 7-0 lead with only six minutes on the clock. The Rats continued to control much of the ball and Marty Cochran ran in another top try that took the score to 14-0 at the break. 

The second-half saw a more targeted attack by the Rats, and as a result, four more tries were scored giving them a final score 36-0. In extremely wet conditions the Gwydir team showed good ball control and patience to grind away at the younger Robb side. 

Try scorers in the second half were Dan O’Conner, Jay Fletcher, Marty Cochran and Peter Anderson. This win saw the thirds jump into third position on the ladder and a win next week will put them into first place. 

Points went to Pete Anderson (3), Jayden Fields (2) and Chris Parker (1). Parker also got player’s player.

Second grade kicked-off with conditions deteriorating further and Robb College were put under immediate pressure, but a stray pass saw a Robb player sprint 80 metres to score under the posts. It would be their only points scored on the day.

The Rats regrouped around the 7-0 score-line and with only three minutes of the game gone, knew they had to dig deep.

The Rat pack took control of the game again. It gave the backs room to move and 11 tries and seven conversions later the backs were showing their appreciation. Travis Allen, Alex Abra and Andrew Riley all scored one try each, Jason Mack scored two and Rats new boot, Andrew Webber, crossed the line three times, which took his personal tally for the day up to 29 points. Veteran Sean ‘The Sheep’ Campbell crossed for a well-earned five pointer, along with ever improving Matt O’Conner and Josh Layton. 

The final score of 69-7 puts the River Rats in outright fourth position in the seconds, with more points than any other team in the competition in any grade.   

Three points went to Jason Mack, two to Chris Thomas and one each Mick Wade, Cam Fletcher and Andrew Weber, who also shared player’s player with Sean Campbell.

Next week the River Rats make the trip to Armidale to play competition leaders, the Armidale Blues. It is a match that will definitely test the Rats. The competition is so close, a loss in either grade will see the club on the verge of dropping out of the top four, and they will possibly need to find a little more than enthusiasm to be treated kindly by the pointy end of the season. A bus departs Gwydir Oval at 10am for a 1:40pm kickoff.