From the outset the Magpies made the Warriors aware they were in for a tough contest. Both sides gave nothing away in the opening exchanges and it wasn’t until the 15th minute that the Warriors opened the scoring with a converted try. Yass hit back immediately with a sparkling 70m try to fullback Andrew Swaffield. The game was now a gripping contest with both sides searching for the ascendency. Like the curtain raiser, the only negative seemed to be the constant blowing of the referee’s whistle.

The Magpies then silenced the unwelcoming crowd when Anthony Broers scored a converted try that followed good lead up work from Cody Timoti and Bruce Barrie. However the Magpies lead was short lived with the Warriors scoring two tries in quick succession to lead 16–10 at the break.

The second half began with the Magpies having a man in the sin bin, which provided the edge the Warriors were looking for. They scored three tries in 13 minutes to extend their lead to 20 points.

For the next 20 minutes the Magpies composed themselves and looked the more enterprising of the two sides. Five-eight Matt Lawrence was carving through the Warriors defence with a number of long penetrating runs, all of which would have resulted in tries had it not been for West’s scrambling defence.

With minutes remaining until full-time West Belconnen piled on further points. Then, as the siren sounded Matt Lawrence deservedly scored a try in the corner, which he converted to bring the final score to 36–16 in favour of the Warriors.

Matt Lawrence played with confidence and was the best for Yass. His ability to spot and go through gaps kept the Warriors defence on their toes. In the forwards Jade Roche tackled himself to a standstill, while Adam Alchin shouldered much of the hard work up front and Cody Timoti put in another full hearted effort. Playing a variety of positions, Brett Waters punishing runs made valuable metres as did Andrew Swaffield, who proved elusive on a number of occasions

On Sunday both grades play Workers Bulldogs in Goulburn.

***

West Belconnen Warriors 36 defeated Yass Magpies 16 [Swaffield, Broers, Lawrence tries; Lawrence two conversions]