Magpies buck Cowboys off field

The Forbes Magpies’ success against the Wellington Cowboy’s couldn’t have been much sweeter on Sunday for the club.

Yet with a final score of 40-34 in the first grade, the end result was certainly a little too close for comfort for captain-coach Zac Merritt. 

“We blew them off the park early on but they did well to keep battling and in the end it was pretty close,” he said. 

“But at the end of the day the boys dug deep, hung in there and got the win.”

At the start of the match the Magpies were looking to meet their goal of keeping Wellington down to 18 points. 

But as the game progressed, Merritt said “a couple of discipline things” cost the team their defensive strategy and pushed up Wellington’s points tally. 

Luckily however the Magpies’ forwards, and Fijian newcomer Rushi Lawanikula, were scoring machines and put seven tries on the board. 

Merritt said Rushi was a great asset to the team on Sunday, scoring a try on debut and strengthening the team’s offence. 

“He went really good, he was like another forward on the wing,” Merritt said. 

In the other grades, the reserves took Wellington down 46-10, while the colts won 26-18. 

The women’s league tag had less success on Sunday, losing 22-14 to the Cowboys.

Merritt applauded the many supporters who turned out to watch a whole day of football, from the women’s league tag to the men’s first grade. 

“It was the biggest crowd I’ve seen in the bush for a long time so a huge thank you to all the supporters,” he said. 

Next weekend, the Magpies take on Dubbo Macquarie in a home match at Spooner Oval. 

TRIES: Bailey Hartwig (1), Rushi Lawanikula (1), Zac Merritt (1), Joel Davie (1), Jake Grace (1), Brad McMillan (1), Matt Roylance (1)