If you told Cowra Eagles fullback Noah Ryan his side would be in the Blowes Cup finals after their poor opening round he probably would have laughed at you but it's funny how quickly things can change.
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Ryan and the Eagles were dominant on Saturday afternoon at No.1 Oval to defeat the Dubbo Roos, booking Cowra a spot in the Blowes Cup finals with one match still to play.
Ryan's boot was on song from the opening minutes as he helped guide the Eagles to a 44-5 victory, making Dubbo's finals hopes even tougher.
Scoring 24 points on his own, the Central West representative was pretty pleased with how things unfolded for his men.
"It wasn't too bad at all actually," he said.
"We've been improving throughout the season and we are happy with the performances we are starting to put together."
Cowra's Joe Sullivan got things off to the perfect start for his men when he burrowed over early to open the scoring with Ryan adding the extras.
From there, a string of penalties allowed Dubbo easy passage down the field but nothing came of it, a string of dropped balls robbing the Roos of any attacking chances.
Cowra crossed again just before half-time to lead 14-0 heading into the break and it was much of the same in the second half.
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Ryan converted his own try to move the score along to 21-0 before Calub Cook gave Roos fans some hope.
The fullback sliced through a gap to score just next to the posts but the kick went wide before Cowra went on a bit of a roll.
Ryan slotted a pair of penalty goals before Sionelose Anau brought the visiting crowd to their feet barging down the right-hand side to score.
Another penalty goal and converted try to Damien Michael comfortably sealed the win for Cowra.
Saturday's win secures a likely third spot on the ladder for the Eagles and a home final against either Dubbo or Orange City pending next weekend, something Ryan is happy to have locked up with a game to spare.
"I think it does actually (secure a finals spot)," he said.
"Hopefully it secures third place as well and we can go into next week.
"We had a lot of new players come in and we took a bit of time to gel together."
Several Dubbo players were visibly disappointed following the match and Ben Knaggs kept things pretty simple when asked about what unfolded.
"It was a tough one, we probably just weren't on the money today," he said.
"Credit to Cowra, they played pretty well."
Tom Barber
I cover a mixture of news and sport for the Liberal after graduating from university in 2020. If you've got a story feel free to flick me a message tom.barber@austcommunitymedia.com.au
I cover a mixture of news and sport for the Liberal after graduating from university in 2020. If you've got a story feel free to flick me a message tom.barber@austcommunitymedia.com.au
