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Scratchy Win For The Chooks
[ July 31, 2007 ]
By John Preston

A surprisingly good showing from the Uni North Owls surprised the Bungendore Mudchooks on the weekend and a scratchy 20 to 18 scoreline to the Chooks was the result.

Enormous commitment at the breakdown saw the students gain a great deal of turn over ball and some age and cunning in the set pieces made the Mudchook scrum and lineout look ordinary at times.

Coupled with these woes, the backline failed to gain much cohesion in either defence or attack and it was left to some individual skills and good luck for the Chooks to pull off the win.

With an injury depleted side there were some excuses for Bungendore, however, once again, the Mudchooks allowed their opponents to dictate the speed and style of the play in the opening stanzas and then had to adapt their football to deal with this.

Dancing Dave McDonald scored two tries including the try of the day: chasing a penalty kick, re-gathering and sprinting the best part of 60 metres to score to the right of the posts.

The late start saw a great advantage to the side running to the south and the students capitalized on this advantage in the first half. The Mudchooks used the sun far less successfully and, in the end, it was match fitness and determination that led to the Bungendore victory.

Man of the match three points went to Matthew Burton, back in his more familiar break away position following last week's sojourn at half-back (welcome back Luke Bayley). Two points were shared between John Turner and David McDonald with one point going to Luke Bayley. Chicks' pick to went to Daniel Beers at fullback.

In the other crucial game of the round for the Mudchooks, Taralga easily defeated the Jindabine Bushpigs 24 to nil. This result is likely to indicate that the Mudchooks will be traveling to the iron hard Taralga football paddock for the major semi-final on August 11.

The Chooks will need all the support we can muster to gain a victory over a determined Taralga outfit so mark your calendars and head out to Taralga for a 2:30pm kick off.

The Mudchooks Presentation night will be held on September 1st at the school and community hall in Bungendore. This gala event will feature a guest speaker, presentation of best and fairest awards and a night of fun and frivolity. Set aside this date in your calendar and start organizing your table of 10 for the night. Cost will be $60 per head and tickets will go on sale soon.