Magpies front-rower Blake Duncombe struggles forward in their 48-16 loss to Orange Hawks.
The Cowra Magpies are pining for home following their 48-16 loss to Orange Hawks on Sunday.
It was a tough day at the office for Cowra coach Craig Jeffries as the Magpies slumped to sixth on the table with their fifth loss.
“The first half was pretty good quality football from both teams, I thought, and the score showed that,” Jeffries said.
“The second half, I said to the boys I’ve got no answers.
“We’ve been on the road for a month now. We’ve only had three home games. So we’re looking forward to getting back home. That’s one shining light - we’re undefeated at home. We’re going to start again.”
For Orange Hawks, the difference between their round seven and eight Group 10 matches was significant and it came down to attitude.
It was a far cry from the previous round where Hawks were trampled by Lithgow in the second half of their match to lose 38-10.
In the first 10 minutes, Cowra asked a lot of Hawks as they camped on the Orange side’s line but were unable to convert their possession into points.
When Hawks broke into Cowra’s half 12 minutes into the game, young five-eighth Matt Boss put second rower Marcus Barber in to score.
Ten minutes later replacement Tim Trudgett crash over the line and, when Brock McGarity kicked his second conversion, Hawks were up 12-0.
But Cowra didn’t back down and had it back to 12-10 at the break thanks to tries to Brendan Tidswell and Aaron Thorn and a conversion from Caley Mok.
Two minutes before the break Hawks prop Billy Baleilomaloma was sin binned for repeat infringements.
Hawks started the second half a man down but this didn’t worry them as tries to Anthony Redfern and Brock McGarity pushed the Orange side’s lead out to 22-10.
Fullback Joe Lasagavibau, Jake Davis and Mitch Hurford also got in on the action for Hawks to lead 40-10 before replacement Warren Williams scored for Cowra with 10 minutes to go.
This didn’t stop Hawks as Chris Anau scored and Lasagavibau ran in his second for a jubilant Hawks to grab the 32-point win.
For Orange Hawks player-coach James Wynne, Sunday’s victory gave him a sniff of what his side is capable of.
“It was a bit of a wake up call last week,” Wynne said of the loss to Lithgow.
“We were pretty honest with ourselves during the week and it definitely shows with the different attitude.
“I’m very happy.”
“We’ve definitely got to ride the wave while everything’s positive but at the same time there’s still a lot of work to do and we’re a long way behind,” Wynne said.
“I hope that kickstarts us now and we can keep on a roll.”
ORANGE HAWKS 48 (Joe Lasagavibau 2, Marcus Barber, Tim Trudgett, Anthony Redfern, Brock McGarity, Jake Davis, Mitch Hurford, Chris Anau tries; Brock McGarity 6 goals) def COWRA 16 (Brendan Tidswell, Aaron Thorn, Warren Williams tries; Caley Mok 2 goals).
