The Goulburn Dirty Reds are your champions for 2019.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
A tight first half followed by a rampant Dirty Reds performance in the second half helped the Goulburn side to a 34-17 victory over the Gungahlin Eagles at the Crookwell Memorial Oval on Saturday, August 24.
With the scores locked at 17 all at half time of the 2019 ACT Rugby Women's Development League 10s grand final, Dirty Reds forward Paige Penning said co-coach and player Ash Mewburn told them to play smart.
That worked a treat as the Dirty Reds won the game with three unanswered tries in the second half.
"I reckon we got worried in the first half because they put two quick tries on us really quickly," Penning said.
"Ash got us together and told us to think about what we were doing and how we were told to play.
"That kicked us into gear."
The wind played havoc during the game and Penning said it changed her side's game plan.
"The wind was a big factor as our main goal was to have a fast game.
"The Eagles are a really big team and have some very strong forwards.
"We wanted to kick it out quickly, but the wind affected that.
"We had to bring our passes closer together and had to have a little bit more movement instead of only relying on our speed."
Mewburn said the day could not have gotten any better.
"It was a tough physical fight and we stuck to our strength," Mewburn said.
"We believed in ourselves and I'm so proud of the girls getting away with the win."
Co-coach Rob Sheekey was probably the coolest person at the ground as he felt his side would win at half time.
"I was pretty confident at half time, but you never ever know," Sheekey said.
"When we got to 34-17 with five minutes to go, I thought our girls would be able to defend well enough to keep them out and that proved to be the case."
A comedic moment of the match came when Sass Cudaj was running towards the try line under no pressure at all, but slipped.
Fortunately for the Dirty Reds, she got back to her feet quickly to put the icing on the cake.
For most of the Dirty Reds players, this was the best game they had ever been a part of.
Send in your results
Did you know the Goulburn Post is now offering breaking news alerts and a weekly email newsletter? Keep up-to-date with all the local news: sign up below.
