An intercept try in the dying seconds was all that could separate the two sides
Grafton Ghosts and Macksville Sea Eagles could not be separated for 79 minutes until a slice of Todd Cameron magic stole the game from the visitors’ grasp.
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Grafton Ghosts captain-coach Todd Cameron produced a slice of magic to secure victory against Macksville Sea Eagles with the last play of the game in the Group 2 Rugby League round 13 clash at Frank McGuren Field on Sunday.
As full time loomed a 10-all draw looked inevitable, with Macksville trucking the ball out of their own end and less than 30 seconds on the clock. But the Sea Eagles decided to move the ball wide and chance their own arm, thus also opening up one last opportunity for the home side. Defending one in from the edge, Cameron anticipated a cut-out ball from Macksville five-eighth Zane Zoolan intended for his winger, poached it out of the air and ran 30 metres to dive into the corner five seconds before the final siren sounded.
“I was in the right place at the right time and the ball popped up,” Cameron said. “It was just one of those things, very lucky.
“We let them back in with a few penalties and mistakes, but we got away with the win, so I’m stoked with it.”
It was a fitting final touch for the Ghosts’ number six, who in his first season as captain-coach has guided a relatively inexperienced side to currently sit equal first on the ladder with Coffs Harbour Comets with less than a month until the finals.
Cameron said he was happy with how his young squad had progressed under his watch.
“I am mate, I’m really stoked,” he said. “It was one of those years we’ve lost a lot of old fellas and have a lot of young fellas coming through.”
The Ghosts opened the scoring via a penalty goal to Cameron under the sticks before Jake Martin muscled his way over. The Ghosts led 8-0 midway through the first half despite Macksville dominating both possession and territorial advantage.
After several attempts, Macksville finally broke through on the right, with winger Beau Langford diving over in the corner, beautifully converted by Andrew Blair. But Grafton’s stoic defence ensured the home side went into the sheds with a slender 8-6 advantage.
In a real arm wrestle, Macksville scored first in the second half when Grafton fullback Mitch Lollback uncharacteristic spilled the ball cleaning up in the in-goal, before five-eighth Zane Doolan dived on the loose ball. The unconverted try gave Macksville a 10-8 lead.
The score remained that way for the majority of the second half until an accidental offside under the posts gifted the Ghosts the 10-all equaliser with six minutes to go, before Cameron’s heroics on the cusp of full time.
“Today was one of those tough games,” Cameron said. “We were down on troops, the young fellas had to step up, and they did.
“We’ve got a couple of big guns coming back but these young fellas are pushing for their spot, so it’s going to be good coming into finals. I’m excited for it.”
On a losing side, fullback Andrew Blair and prop forward Luke Shields were among the best players on the field. Blair’s positional play continually snuffed out Grafton’s fifth play options which he came inches from scoring when he side led 10-8 with 15 minutes left, with Grafton’s desperate goal-line defence proving the difference. Meanwhile Shields made plenty of metres through the middle of the park and was robust in defence.
It was a low-scoring affair across the three matches in round 13 with competition leaders Coffs Harbour Comets holding out 22-10 against South Grafton Rebels, while Woolgoolga Seahorses kept their season alive and ensured the logjam from third to sixth tightened further with a 26-18 win over Bellingen Magpies.
RESULTS
FIRST GRADE
GRAFTON GHOSTS 16 (Jake Martin, Todd Cameron tries; Cameron 3 goals) defeated MACKSVILLE SEA EAGLES 10 (Beau Langford, Zane Doolan tries; Andrew Blair goal).
COFFS HARBOUR COMETS 22 (Matthew Waugh 2, William Griffiths, ???? tries; ???? 3 conv) defeated SOUTH GRAFTON REBELS 10 (Joshua Rigg, Matthew Dalton tries; Grant Brown goal).
WOOLGOOLGA SEAHORSES 26 (Brad Collinson 2, Sione Fangupo 2, Jason McGrady tries; Corey Williams 2, Edward Vincent goals) defeated BELLINGEN MAGPIES 18 (Jai Whaddy, Tyran Stevenson, Khan Jerrett tries; Whaddy 2, Damien Dumas goals).
Ladder: 16 Coffs Harbour, Grafton; 12 Macksville; 10 Bellingen, South Grafton; 8 Woolgoolga.
RESERVE GRADE
Macksville 48 d Grafton 10, South Grafton 26 d Coffs Harbour 24, Bellingen 18 d Woolgoolga 14.
Ladder: 18 South GrafTon, 15 Woolgoolga, 14 Macksville, 13 Coffs Harbour, 10 Bellingen, 2 Grafton.
LEAGUE TAG
Grafton 10 d Macksville 6, Coffs Harbour 40 d South Grafton 0, Bellingen 16 d Woolgoolga 8.
Ladder: 24 Coffs Harbour, 17 Bellingen, 15 Grafton, 7 Macksville, 5 South Grafton, 4 Woolgoolga.
UNDER-18s
South Grafton 20 d Coffs Harbour 18, Sawtell 22 d Macksville 18.
Ladder: 17 Macksville, 14 Sawtell, 10 South Grafton, 7 Coffs Harbour.
NEXT WEEK, ROUND 14
WOOLGOOLGA SEAHORSES v GRAFTON GHOSTS at Woolgoolga Sports Ground
BELLINGEN MAGPIES v SOUTH GRAFTON REBELS at Bellingen Park
MACKSVILLE SEA EAGLES v COFFS HARBOUR COMETS at Allan Gillett Oval
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