Defending Blowes Clothing Cup champions Orange Emus lost their first match of 2016 on Saturday, falling 22-7 to a determined and disciplined Dubbo Kangaroos at DCL Park.
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In a match which saw red cards handed out to Roo James Gilmore and Emu Tom Goolagong, the strangest moment came when Emus coach Paul Ringland was banished from the sideline.
In the end the Roos were able to take their chances in a dour struggle which failed to reach any great heights.
“I thought we did well. They are a good side and we held them out for the most part,” Roos coach Dan Armitage said.
“I thought last week was our best performance of the year but this one was good as well.
“They seemed to get flustered a bit with the interpretation of the rule at the breakdown but our boys held their nerve. We’d spoken about it before the game, how we had to minimise the penalties and I thought we did that well.”
Discipline cruelled the visitors, particularly in the first half, and they spent three quarters of the match with just 14 players after Goolagong was sent off by referee Richard Madden for dissent in the 22nd minute.
With an advantage in the midfield Dubbo capitalised through Jonny Mafiti, who finished a strong phase of play by burrowing over.
The match took a strange twist shortly after when Ringland was told to sit in the grandstand by Madden after he used foul language to question the officiating.
A crack down on a rule interpretation was the cause of the drama, with Emus penalised for consistent breaches.
Three minutes before the break Emus winger Tom Green was sin-binned and again the Roos capitalised, with Isaac Kinscher’s try giving the hosts a 12-0 buffer at the break.
Gilmore’s send off in the 53rd minute for a dangerous tackle was the only moment of note in the second half until Eli Kinscher’s try 11 minutes from full-time secured the win for the Roos.
A subsequent penalty to Golding, which was given despite appearing to miss, made it 22-0 but Emus got a consolation try late through Alo Finau to leave the final score 22-7.
“Our discipline hurt us in the first half and you can’t give that advantage to a team like Roos,” Emus skipper Scott McLean said.
“We gave them chances, and they were able to take them. They were too good on the day but we will learn from that and move forward to next week.”
DUBBO KANGAROOS 22 (Johnny Mafiti, Eli Kinscher, Isaac Kinscher tries; Anthony Golding 2 convs, pen) def ORANGE EMUS 7 (Alo Finau try; Andrew Selwood conv)
