The return of Ryan McGoldrick into the Darlington Point-Coleambally first grade starting 13 has helped the Roosters to a 40-30 win over Hay in a free-flowing match on Sunday.
Ryan was to start in ressies and then come off bench for first grade until his fitness was back up but when Jarrad pulled out we had to throw him in
- Clinton Green
The withdrawal of regular hooker Jarrad Williams on Thursday due to a groin injury paved the way for McGoldrick’s return.
The former Cronulla Shark slotted into five-eighth while captain-coach Clinton Green shifted to hooker.
“Ryan was to start in ressies and then come off bench for first grade until his fitness was back up but when Jarrad pulled out we had to throw him in,” Green said.
“At the end of the day, he was probably the difference.
“He has a pretty cool head and organised everyone around the park really well.
“He’s very direct and it’s probably the best our structure has looked all year.”
The Roosters trailed 22-16 at half-time before they kicked into gear.
Winger Semisi Rogoyawa and bench forward Craig Fox scored two tries each for DPC in the come from behind win. Rogoyawa’s efforts in first grade were made more impressive by the fact he scored a double in the Roosters’ reserve grade win.
Josh Veivers, Jesse Forrester and Robbie Simpson scored the side’s other tries.
Despite the win, Green said there were definitely things they could improve on.
“It [the match] was played in patches,” he said. “They were dominant for periods and we were dominant for periods. We were chasing our tail all day but I was happy with the way we finished off the match.”
The Roosters will have to wait and see what happens with Williams’ injury.
“It’s his Groin,” Green said. “He's [Jarrad Williams] been carrying it for the last five or six weeks. He's been getting through the games but it's just not right.
“He pulled up lame last Tuesday (28th) and he went off to see a bloke Monday.”
Hay captain-coach Matt Wakefield was impressive with a pair of tries to his name whilst Ben Taylor, Luke Serevi, Mosese Koroi and Jone Turogo all crossed once each for the home side.
Results:
Under 16s: Hay 14 defeated DPC 12
Reserves: DPC 41 (Semisi Rogoyawa 2, Luke Hogan, Ben Hardie, Simon Fuller, Lorenzo Tafili, Shane Nayben tries; Kane Simpson 4, Tom Fuller 2 goals) d Hay 10
First grade:
DPC 40 (Semisi Rogoyawa 2, Craig Fox 2, Robbie Simpson, Jesse Forrester, Josh Veivers tries; Josh Veivers 6 goals) d Hay 30.
