Confident seasons not over just yet
It was a non-stop, brutal battle up front at Nyngans Larkin Oval but at the end of the day the Tigers and Macquarie Raiders couldnt be split.
And, according to Tigers captain-coach Jacob Neill, its one they should have won.
“We had a lot of chances to win it, but I think that execution at times let us down.”
“There were key parts of the game where we could have capitalised on a bit of field position and scored a few points, but in turn we ended up with just a couple of little slip ups and they scored a couple of lucky tries … but it's definitely one I thought we should have won,” he said.
Interestingly, it was the second time in two seasons the Tigers and Raiders drew at Larkin Oval after last years clash finished at 14-all.
On Sunday, the sides went try for try in the first half and even when Nyngan shot out to a 20-12 lead the Raiders hit back through tries to Bobby Jo Gordon and Kepu Nathan to get themselves back in front.
With roughly five minutes to go the Tigers crossed to hold a crucial 26-24 lead but a Kurt Fuller penalty inside the final two minutes locked it up.
The Tigers then had a chance to win it late but it wasnt to be, leaving Neills side in seventh and the Raiders fifth, the places they were before the weekend began.
Neill was proud of young forward James Fisks performance. “He plays well week in week out and always gives it a red hot go.”
However Neill has complete confidence in the ability of the entire team that they will make the most of the rest of the season.
“I think the key to us it to try and string a couple of wins together and really get our confidence back because there's no doubt we have the ability and we have the guys that are able to win and produce a good performance its just putting it altogether.”
“We have been a bit unfortunate with injuries, but you cant dwell on that too much you just got to keep on moving forward and doing what you can do.
“We've probably let a couple of games slip now that we should have won, and that's disappointing but at the end of the day the guys are showing up and they're putting in and we're doing the best we can.”
“Its definitely not over, we're still only one point out of the top 5 and we've got a lot of teams to come back out home. We can only get better when we've got guys that come back from injuries,” he said.
The Tigers, without Reece Goldsmith after his comeback last week, still have just one win to their name but captain-coach Neill is confident when the team travel to Forbes to face the Magpies next week it will be a good showdown.
“It's always a tough road trip and a tough day over there at Forbes but I think in the last five years we've only won once and that was over there last year, so it should be good.” “We need to get a win just as much as them so it makes for a good Sunday afternoon at the footy.”
The Nyngan outfit, last seasons runners-up, travel to Forbes to take on the Magpies next week.
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Nyngan Observer
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