A NORTH Coast team made up of rugby league amateurs shocked some of the sport's experts with a strong performance against ex-NRL talent on Saturday.
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North Coast went down 20-10 against Canberra in the AAMI Country Championships at Harry Elliott Oval, Tuncurry, but the team got closer than anyone predicted.
Anyone that is, apart from coach Phil Trembath and his players, who were written off in metropolitan media in the lead-up to the match.
Trembath went into the contest with a positive attitude, saying his team was capable of an upset, and it almost worked.
North Coast was up 10-0 early on thanks to tries from Matt Shipway and Dale Clacherty, but couldn't sustain the pressure as the game wore on.
The loss of dummy half Joe Cudmore didn't help the North Coast's cause. He was directing the play well before rolling his ankle and spending some time off the field.
Cudmore showed his commitment to the cause and came back in the second half, but he couldn't get his team over the line.
"His kicking game out of dummy half was the major reason we were where we were," Trembath said.
The loss puts the North Coast boys into the second tier of the Country Championships.
Even though his team was on the wrong end of the scoreline, Trembath was chuffed with the effort of his players.
He said the physicality of his team shocked the opposition.
"I think we caught them off guard," he said.
Shipway reached across the line to score after 10 minutes, and North Coast was on the board again shortly after with Old Bar player Clacherty's try.
He was on the end of a good back line move which proved the North Coast wasn't afraid to put the ball through the hands.
Grafton Ghost Matt Mullar booted one from two.
The result spoke volumes about the heart of the North Coast players.
"I didn't read the papers, but I'm told we were being written off," Trembath said.
"They gave us no chance, and I suppose at the end of the day, when we were beaten by 10, they were right.
"But I think they suspected a bigger scoreline.
"I think we opened up a couple of league pundits' eyes."
Canberra 20 (J Vatikani 2, T Ruediger, T Thurling tries; B Picker 2 goals) def. North Coast 10 (M Shipway, D Clacherty tries; M Muller goal)
