Byron were expected to beat Evans Head in their NRRRL clash on Sunday, and they more or less went through the motions in satisfying everybody’s expectations.
It was a game in which they barely got out of cruise-control and, as so often happens, the team that had been in command throughout found itself on the razor’s edge in the last five minutes, desperately trying to deny the visitors a draw.
Three wins on the trot have now injected the Red Devils’ campaign with a genuine belief that they will be in the mix when the finals are being fought out, but if the titanic victory over Mullumbimby was proof of their steel, the 24–18 result against the Bombers only highlighted a nagging tendency to go daydreaming before the full-time siren. That they couldn’t buy a goal in scoring five tries to three also did nothing to alleviate the pressure that grew in the later stages.
On a muggy arvo, in front of a crowd in the vicinity of 3,444, the Devils found touch from the kick-off and in the set following the scrum Simon ‘Canine’ Kelly took a rapidly fired pass from dummy half to storm over next to the sticks.
There followed what must be one of the weirdest tries in the history of weird tries … From Evans Head’s resumption, fullback Scott ‘Julio’ Stapleton attempted to trap the ball with his boot, only to see it ricochet like a rocket back towards an approaching Bomber who, dumbfounded by his luck, spilt the pill directly in front of Stapleton, who (wearing #18 after some joker had nicked his #1) then sprinted seventy metres to the tryline. A cricket score loomed.
The Bombers pulled one back when their hooker burrowed through, but a brilliant step and fend from whiplash centre William ‘Doctor’ King saw him race away for a terrific individual try and a 14–6 Devils’ lead. At which point a little niggle raised its head when the Bombers’ #14 exchanged unpleasantries with the Bay’s shy and retiring Hemi ‘Sphere’ Mullen.
Joseph ‘General’ Gordon, who is in stellar form, delivered a lovely one-hander to winger Fraser ‘Fletcher’ Jones and an 18–6 half-time advantage seemed fair enough.
Everything went according to script after the break – Ben ‘Spider’ Webber was rewarded with a four-pointer after his own brilliant 40/20, but none of us could know that, at 24/6, the Bay would not again bother the ledger.
At no point had Evans turned it up and, while the Old Bloke distracted us all with concerns about his sexual performance, the Bombers drew back to 24–12. The Bay’s frivolous indulgences opened the door enough for the Bombers’ desperate directness to get them back to 24–18 with five long minutes to go. They were, to be sure, coming home with a wet sail.
The Devils are to be commended for the urgency with which they saw out the closing stages – their defence is well organised and quick to respond to potential danger – but the Bombers were only prevented from sharing the spoils by a couple of wayward passes that might have put their winger over in the corner.
Saturday’s road-trip to Kyogle will offer no such comforts for the men in red.
Recent stories tagged NRRRL:
Byron Bay have been bundled out of the 2022 NRRRL by a tenacious Evans Head who won last Sunday’s match 22–21 at Red Devil Park. The Byron Bay Red Devils kept their chances of a final’s berth alive last Sunday when they beat the Tweed Coast Raiders 35–26 in round 10 of the NRRRL, playing at home.
Story and photo John Campbell
Every year, the Byron Bay Red Devils ask that their bye be allocated to the weekend of Splendour in the Grass, as they are most drastically affected by absenteeism it causes.
And every year, presumably...
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A tag rugby league competition started a month ago in the region and the Red Devils have had three wins from three so far.
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The Byron Bay Red Devils enjoyed their first win of the 2017 season when they romped home against a lacklustre Mullumbimby side 36–4.
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Police will prepare a report for the Coroner after the death of a man during a rugby league match at Murwillumbah yesterday (Sunday September 11). Winning becomes a habit. The Evans Head Bombers, an honest but not outstanding team, have acquired it. Byron Bay’s Red Devils have gone cold turkey on it.
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So near and yet so far for Devils against comp frontrunners
