Dayboro Cowboys showed why they are still a dominant force with a convincing 44-16 win over Valleys at the picturesque Emmerson Park.
On a much cooler afternoon, both teams came out with a point to prove. It was evident from the start that the more robust Dayboro side had their game plan set out and some early handling errors from Valleys gave Dayboro good field position early on and they began dominating the game with well organised set plays and strong running from their huge forward pack.
First try of the afternoon belonged to big bopper Aaron King from Dayboro who smashed his way over beside the posts in the sixth minute. The conversion was successful by Kyle Razsorbek to have the Cowboys on the scoresheet 6-0. Valleys were keen to go toe to toe with the bigger Dayboro pack and some punishing defence by both sides saw a few injuries early on from the sheer brutal contact.
Next on the Dayboro tryscoring list was flying winger Brendan Lane who outpaced the valleys defence down the blindside to score in the corner. Conversion unsuccessful 10-0 to Dayboro. With Valleys struggling to get on side from quick play the balls, the Cowboys wasted no time in sweeping the ball across the backline to find Winger Ruben Sullivan who motored down the touchline unopposed to score another four pointer for the visitors and take the lead out to 14-0.
With their tails now firmly up, a clever solo effort by Dayboro hooker Adam Harris, saw him scoot 30m up the field, dodging and weaving his way past some feeble Valleys defence to score beside the posts in was what the best try of the afternoon. The conversion was successful by Razsorbek and the Cowboys skipped away to a healthy 20-0 lead in front of a stunned home crowd. Dayboro crossed the line two minutes later when fullback Jack White flew onto a Justin Tyson pass to score beside the posts extending the lead to 26-0.
Valleys were still hanging in there and were best served by towering prop Drew Abbott and Dwayne Malone and dynamo halfback Josh Roper who although much smaller than his opposition tackled like a man possessed. The rewards soon paid off for Valleys when inspirational hooker Tyrone Lowry burrowed his way over to score beside the posts and put Valleys on the scoreboard. Malone converted the extras and had the score sitting at 26-6 at halftime.
The second half got off nicely for Dayboro with a nice cross kick from Razsorbek who found lock Ryan Doyle who then planted the ball down firmly to further the lead to the cowboys 32-6. In true Diehard fashion the home side hit back with a try to James Hutchinson beside the posts after some clever lead up work by Lowry from dummy half and with the conversion successful made the scoreline 32-12.
With Dayboro now struggling with the resurgent Valleys pack, the Cowboys were caught napping down the blindside and a pinpoint cross field kick from Malone found Craig Whitfield who took the ball nicely and scored in the corner.
But Dayboro, still looking for more points had hooker Harris go over for his double of the afternoon when he found some open space in the Valleys defence and advanced the Cowboys lead to 36-16.
Frustration from both teams turned to a heated incident with 10 minutes remaining as both sides traded blows in a melee that saw four players dispatched to the sin bin in their part in the fight.
When calm was restored by the referee, the teams got back to playing football and Dayboro took control of the last passages of play with another beautiful dazzling run by fullback White who found winger Lane to score in the corner. The last try of the match belonged to Ryan Doyle of Dayboro right on the hooter in the 80th min as he crossed out wide to make the final score Dayboro 44- Valleys 16.
In other games: Aspley 36 continued their good form beating Mitchelton 4, Brothers Juniors 36 upset Deception Bay 34, Gaters 36 beat Brisbane Natives 22, Pine Rivers 32 continued their good run with a win over Normanby 8.
Points: Aspley 14, Pine Rivers 12, Deception Bay Bombers 10, Dayboro 8, Brothers Juniors 8, Gaters 8, Normanby 4, Valleys 4, Brisbane Natives 2, Mitchelton 0.
