Magpies Come Home Winners over the Jets                                                                 8-7-08

It certainly wasn’t their prettiest win in 2008, but the Picton Magpies did enough to come away winners over the Narellan Jets on Sunday at the Narellan Sportsground in the latest round of the Group 6 first grade competition.

With 5 minutes left of the match the Magpies trialled 16 to 10 before hooker Matt Brinkworth stepped up to the plate and set up one try and scored one himself as the Magpies got out of jail to win 26 to 16.

“The boys were able to show their fighting spirit and come away with the win, so I’m very pleased with their effort,” said Magpies coach Noel Wood.

“Players such as Matt Brinkworth, Daniel Bacon, Darren Nolan and Clayton Parkyn had terrific games and they were the difference in the end.”

Wood continued on by saying that he was very proud of the fight back from his team as they had their backs against the wall.

“To Narellan’s credit they played some pretty good rugby league, but we came home the stronger team in the end,” he commented.

“Earlier this season we would have been in trouble, and the big positive to come out of the win is that the whole team never gave up and they were rewarded with success.”

Early in the match the Magpies lost Jae Taylor (knee) and Jeremy Mackay (ribs) to injuries and this forced a few to play out of position but they stood up to the task.

“We had some of the forwards playing in the backline, and although it was not an ideal situation they did the job,” Wood said.

“Also on Sunday we had the return of Justin Miller and Nathan Sutton from injury and they came away without any hassles.”

There is one that is for sure the Magpies are looking to finish the season strongly as they charge towards the semi finals and that has especially been helped by the fact that they are close to reaching full strength.

In reserve grade the Magpies ran out 40 to 10 winners over the Appin Dogs, while in the Under 18 A’s the Magpies defeated the Narellan Jets 44 to 4. The Under 18 B’s had the bye on the weekend.

This Sunday’s game sees the Magpies face the Oakdale Workers in both first grade and reserve grade at Victoria Park. The Under 18 A’s play the Mt. Annan Knights at Jack Nash Oval, and the Under 18 B’s take on The Oaks Tigers at Victoria Park.