Bush 26 def Beach 16
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CHALK down another with for Bush in the annual Hastings League representative round.
For the fourth year running they have weathered the Beach storm to claim a 26-16 victory at Lank Bain Sporting Complex.
The side was marred by wet weather, as was the lead up with both teams struggling to get onto the training paddock.
You would not have been able to tell, as the teams bashed each other in front of a healthy crowd in miserable conditions.
While there was plenty of dropped ball, there was also plenty of quality collisions and silky plays from the best of the best in Hastings League.
Victorious Bush coach, Tony Kennedy, said defence is what delivered them a win on Saturday.
“That was the match winner. Beach scored a couple of lucky tries off kicks, but other than that our defence won us the game,” he said.
“It was a solid effort by all the boys. They all played well and they all did their job.
“We picked more of a mobile pack this year, especially our back rowers and we went for a good defensive back line.”
Stalwart Dean Hurrell led by example at hooker while experienced group 3 player Beau Kettle stepped up to lead the team.
“Our halves controlled the edge side of the rucks and considering the conditions our ball handling was pretty good,” Kennedy said.
“I wouldn’t change a thing (to do with Beach v Bush). The concept is good. If it was back in my day we would have loved to play, so the guys playing now are really lucky to have what they have in the form of this rep round.”
The only sour note is a broken hand to halfback James Kennedy.
Beach captain-coach Bo Wilson scored his team’s first try of the afternoon and was pleased with the effort, but not the error count.
“It was a really physical game in bad conditions. Errors early in our tackle counts compounded our first half,” he said.
“It was the cheap errors that really cruelled us. The side we had was more than capable of the job, it was our own errors. Everyone wants to win, we just couldn’t do the little things right.”