Orange Hawks were left ruing a slow start to both halves on Sunday afternoon after dropping their fourth game of the 2017 Group 10 premier league season at Cowra’s Sid Kallas Oval, losing 41-20 to the Magpies.
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Coming off a superb win over Lithgow Workies and then the bye, Hawks leaked points in the opening stages of both periods against Cowra on Sunday.
Particularly the second half.
Cowra shot to a 10-0 lead early in the clash thanks to Hawks’ ball handling, or lack thereof, but after leading 17-4 at the half-time break, the Magpies switched on and two blues switched off.
Cowra piled on four tries in the first 20 minutes of the second half, including a quick-fire treble from Zac Browne, to lead 37-4.
Game over, although Hawks scored the last three tries to give the final scoreline some respectability.
It was a much-needed win for Cowra, the Magpies were coming off a thumping at the hands of Bathurst Panthers and now enter a stretch of away games.
“We just didn't start well (in either half) … in away games (we’re) just starting too slowly and it's costing us,” Hawks captain-coach Willie Heta said.
“We're very patchy at this stage and we've just got to find that consistency.
“If we can start getting the little things right, minimising our errors and penalty counts, those things, [we’ll] win games (but) we didn't do those things [on Sunday].”
Cowra fullback Caley Mok opened the scoring in the fifth minute and although it took another 15 minutes before Nick Collett extended the margin to 10, Hawks enjoyed virtually no ball during that period.
Cowra had all the territory too, playing the opening stages exclusively in Hawks’ end.
The two blues cut the margin to six with a Jordan Baker try although Heta, uncharacteristically, missed the kick.
Jack Nobes hit back for Cowra five minutes later though and Cam Breust snapped a 40th minute field goal to give Cowra a 17-4 lead at the break.
Browne’s treble, Collett’s second and then a Jai Doolan try in the 70th minute gave the hosts a 40-4 lead, before Jake Blimka, Heta and Jedd Kennedy all scored for Hawks in the last five minutes.
Leaking those three tries wasn’t an issue for Cowra coach Rory Brien, who was stoked.
“I brought a fair few players off to have a rest before we go into the second stint of the season, we don't really want any injuries so we just brought them off. I was very happy with the performance,” he enthused.
“It was very pleasing to see that they turned around and bounced back from last week.”
COWRA MAGPIES 41 (Zac Browne 3, Nick Collett 2, Caley Mok, Jack Nobes, Jai Doolan tries; Cam Breust 4 goals, field goal) def ORANGE HAWKS 20 (Jordan Baker, Jake Blinka, Willie Heta, Jedd Kennedy tries; Heta 2 goals)
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
