Emus Shut Out By Tenacious Stags

Burnie bowed out of the Tasmanian Rugby premiership race to the miserly Glenorchy Stags at Rugby Park on Saturday, leaving next week’s Grand Final a contest of north and south.  The final score-line of 30-11 was a fair indication of the margin, but the outcome was evident a long way from time, built on dogged Glenorchy defence and the capacity to seize on half chances.
 
Both sides showed uncertainty in the first 10 minutes, pushing the pass and kicking to receivers who failed to capitalise on the chances.  Glenorchy missed a shot at goal from a handy position but then worked the edges of the breakdown to put Wally Dare on a clear run to the line from 30 metres.
 
Burnie missed a penalty shot from in front, but then showed some attacking promise, big lock Ollie Crawford taking yardage off short passes and Josh Baldwin spearing several clearing kicks along the touchline.  Wally Dare strode through the fringe defence several times in reply, but the telling pass was not delivered.  Glenorchy then profited from an unfielded kick which bounced wickedly and Willie Campbell strode over to extend the lead to 10-0.  Stags fullback Jason Duffy again missed the shot, but he and Burnie fly-half Tom Zaslona exchanged penalty shots post a 13-3 margin at the break.
 
Glenorchy were being assisted by Burnie being high an ineffective in both their tackling and clearing passes.  The Stags had a visibly stronger scrum but were pressured by two successful strikes against the head and some direct charges from the scrum-base.  Burnie showed variety at the line-out but shifted the pressure by inaccurate throwing.
 
The visitors succeeded with another penalty shot and ran some penetrating angles in close passing rushes, but found the Stags willing to counter with some charges from Tom and Gareth Dare.  Another Duffy penalty and a converted breakaway try from Josh Papera then sealed the Emus’ fate.
 
Stuart Dare completed the try-scoring for Glenorchy who were now making repeated surges despite some bone-crunching hits from Josh Baldwin and Sunia Radravu.  The Emus attack took heart and sustained enough phases in the Stags defensive quarter for Baldwin to cap a fine match with a determined try on full-time.
 
Stags coach Shannan Banks lamented his team’s wayward execution in the first half but praised Wally Dare’s control, the mobile menace of Josh Dorahy and the solid defence of Sean Reardon.  Burnie’s Dave Webber lamented the poor defensive efforts of his combination, courageously carrying knocks from previous weeks but who just couldn’t spark on the day.
 
Glenorchy 30 (W. Dare, W. Campbell, J. Papera, S. Dare tries, J. Duffy 2 penalties, 2 conversions) def Burnie 11 (J. Baldwin try, T. Zaslona penalty, conversion);