Frustrating. That's the only word Forbes Magpies coach Cameron Greenhalgh has to describe watching a solid half-time lead dwindle to a draw at full time in Sunday's first grade contest with the Nyngan Tigers.
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The scoreboard read 26-all at full time in the Round 2 Group 11 meeting at Spooner Oval, but you'd have been forgiven for thinking the hosts had lost looking at some of the body language.
It didn't start out that way: the Magpies controlled the early stages of the game, with tries to Harry Willis, Nick Greenhalgh and Tom Toohey giving Forbes a 20-0 lead.
Even with a Tigers' try right before the break, Magpies fans had every reason to be happy with a half-time score of 20-6.
"We had a really good first 35 minutes," Greenhalgh said.
"We were playing the sort of footy we want to play.
"A few statistics: we had the ball 19 times and completed 15 sets, only a couple of things at the end of the first half made it look worse than it was.
"We went to the sheds confident, and we came out confident."
However, it was Nyngan who scored in the opening minutes of the second half and as things heated up they slowly but surely made up the points.
In contrast to the first half, Magpies only had the ball 10 times.
The fans were vocal, both teams had a player sent to the sin bin, Nyngan had some handling errors and for a time it looked like the Magpies' defence would hold them off.
Magpies scored again to hold a convincing 26-12 lead even well into the second half but the momentum shifted the Tigers' way.
They scored two tries in the final 12 minutes to narrow the gap to just two points, and then were awarded a penalty kick in front of the posts with less than two minutes to play.
Forbes was quick to grab the ball from the restart of play and put the pressure on but couldn't complete, and the coach said the mounting penalty count had taken its toll on the team.
Now he's looking to leave that behind them as the Magpies prepare to host a solid Dubbo CYMS outfit this weekend - once again at Spooner Oval as the Dubbo grounds are being prepared for the Panthers v Rabbitohs NRL contest in another week's time.
"We don't need to go back to the drawing board," he said on Monday.
"It's about keeping our confidence. We have the players that can get the job done."
He was pleased to see the first grade side get the game off to a strong start, something they've struggled with, although there'll be news to come on the injury toll which potentially includes fullback Mitch Andrews who was to play for Country this weekend.
In earlier games:
- Reserve grade were defeated 28-16 in a gritty performance.
- Our Under 18s had a win, 34-22, in an entertaining game.
- Magpies Ladies League Tag team had a 6 all draw with the Nyngan Tigers.
In other group 11 first grade games:
- Parkes Spacemen 48 defeat Narromine Jets 6
- Wellington Cowboys 16 defeated by Dubbo CYMS 42.