The Leeton Greens have come away with the points after a fiery game against Darlington Point Coleambally at Leeton No 1 Oval on Sunday afternoon.
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The game was marred by a brawl in the second half which threatened to get ugly as it spilt towards the dressing sheds when Leeton’s Todd Prest and DPC’s Dillion Bartter were sent from the field.
DPC Roosters Coach Ryan McGoldrick said the better team had gone home with the point over the weekend.
“We didn’t deserve two points on the weekend. We were awful with the ball. Our effort was really good, but the execution was poor,” he said.
“Our completion rate was 28 per cent – four from 14. That leaves a lot time in the game when you’re just tackling.”
Leeton coach Clinton Green was pleased to see improvement in areas his side had struggled with in recent weeks.
“We'd sort of slackened off in the last 20 minutes of both our games and today we really had to fight it out,” he said.
“The last 20 we had nothing left on the bench, and we really had to work hard, and I'm just proud of the boys and their effort.”
He commended the efforts of newcomer Jack Kelly, who had joined the side the previous week.
“He came over on Thursday night and gave it a red hot go on the weekend,” he said.
“We just need to hold the ball. Everything comes from our attack. You don’t give yourself much backing in any footy game if all you’re doing is tackling.”
After a feeling out process, Greens’ Daniel Hyde was able to open the scoring after showing strength to break through a Sam Bartter tackle.
Hyde then crossed for his second of the game before Wilson Feagai got across the line just before halftime to give the home side an 18-0 lead.
The Roosters needed to hit the scoreboard early in the second half and did so after DPC were able to capitalise on a mistake with Josh Veivers crossing in the corner.
They didn’t wait long for their second with Jack Mead running 90 metres to score straight from the kick-off to close the gap to within a try.
The melee, which saw Prest sent off and Bartter sent to the sin bin, broke the momentum and the stop-start nature of the second half meant it was difficult for either side to find the upper hand.
Leeton’s Daniel Patu crossed once play got underway again to wrap up the 22-12 win.
Knowing his side’s struggles to see out their opening two games, Green was pleased to see his side get it right.
“We spoke about it all week and we knew that if it did because the momentum would change, they would come at some stage we just had to try and ride it out,” he said.
“That first five after halftime wasn't ideal ... but we regrouped and completed our next three or four sets and got back into the arm wrestle.”
Next weekend will see DPC take on Tullibigeal Lake Cargelligo in Lake Cargelligo.