Had the good fortune of being at Northbridge for Shore vs Joeys, which provided an absolute cracker in both the 1sts and 2nds. Renewed my faith in rugby, in fact. In the 1sts Joeys skipped out to a 12-0 lead thanks to an intercept try and some enterprising backlne play, lead by fullback Walford who had a blinder. However Shore pegged them back with a lineout rolling maul and a somewhat fortunate up-and-under which landed just on a good length on the cricket pitch and bounced back into the hands of the 5/8 Carmichael, who was Shore's best. 17-14 Joeys at the break.
The second half was a similar story, Joeys scored an early try from close range, which was answered by another Shore lineout maul. With seemingly not long to go, a runaway try to winger Ashby (who also played very well) looked to have put the game beyond doubt, with the scoreline at 29-19. However, a quick try under the sticks to Carmichael moved the score to 29-26 with only a few minutes left. From there, Shore patiently moved it down the field, and the final minutes were spent hammering the Joeys line repeatedly. The Joeys defence was superb, but Shore's composure and ball retention was better, with big centre Gilmore driving over after about 25 phases on the Joeys line.
Final score 31-29 to Shore, the first time they have beaten Joeys at home since 1997. Although nothing was on the line for either side, it was a great game of running rugby played in great spirit, and showed for me why schoolboy rugby is probably the best on offer at the moment.