Coolamon claim RFL premiership
By James Matthey
The pinnacle of the entire season lived up to expectations when Collingullie did battle with Coolamon for the right to be crowned 2013 RFL premiers.
After finishing the season as minor premiers, Coolamon took out the ultimate prize when they defeated the Demons 83-60.
The frenetic opening exchanges were characterized by some bone crunching tackles, with both sides signaling their intent not to give away an inch.
The intensity was electric to begin with, but the appetite for goal wasn’t quite up to the same standard, with Collingullie opening the scoring with three straight behinds.
Coolamon’s Lewis Roberts broke the goal-scoring drought after finding himself unmarked in the goal square, before a crumbers’ goal to Curtis Allen followed by another quick goal gave Collingullie a 17-7 lead at quarter time.
Coolamon came out firing after the break, scoring three unanswered majors to race to a 27-18 advantage, and looked to have scored a critical blow when to they goaled with a minute left in the half.
However, a crucial mistake in defence allowed Quinn Medalist Chris Gordon to slot one through for Collingullie and head into the main break down by 5.
Collingullie took that momentum into the second half, finding themselves up 44-39 after dominating early, but Coolamon couldn’t be kept quiet for long, storming back into the contest in a desperate bid to realize their premiership ambitions.
The margin remained a tight three points heading into the final change, after a nice running goal from Cadzow took the score to 58-54 in Collingullie’s favour.
The Hoppers took the game by the scruff of the neck at the start of the fourth quarter, scoring the opening two goals of the term to earn themselves a 68-58 lead.
With the wind at their back, Coolamon was finishing with a flourish, as a Ben Fixter goal extended their lead to 15 points with 20 minutes gone in the quarter.
In the end, Collingullie just could not keep up with the Hoppers as Coolamon ran over the top of them in the last term to claim the RFL title with an 83-60 win.
