Tristan Scott put forward another strong claim to be labelled the best halfback in the Group 3 rugby league competition when Wauchope extended their undefeated run to seven games on Saturday.
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Scott laid on three second-half tries as the Blues held off a determined Old Bar Pirates 28-18.
However, the main talking point from the game surrounded an ugly melee with two minutes remaining that resulted in Old Bar's Tanna Hinton being knocked out.
Hinton was left lying motionless on the ground after Pirates prop Shannon Martin had run from 30 metres away to spark a melee as a result of a careless high tackle on a teammate.
If you did that off the field you'd be in jail so the footage will come back and Group 3 will deal with it.
- Old Bar captain-coach Mick Henry
Both teams converged which led to a push and shove before the Old Bar youngster was left on the ground as a victim of what Pirates captain-coach Mick Henry suggested could have been a coward punch.
Martin and Blues co-captain Mat Bird were sent to the sinbin as a result of the incident with video footage to determine exactly what happened.
"You never like seeing any of that on the field," Henry said.
"Push and shove is alright, but when it gets to that stuff I don't agree with it. If you did that off the field you'd be in jail, so the footage will come back and Group 3 will deal with it. It's a sour way to end when they played so good."
Bird was bemused about spending the final 120 seconds of the match watching from the grandstand.
"I ended up on the bottom of the pile so I didn't see much of what was going on," he said.
The Blues led 12-10 at half-time following tries to winger Reuben Trick and Bird while the Pirates crossed through prop Jared Wooster and winger Michael Bailey.
But the second 40 minutes belonged to Wauchope general Tristan Scott as he laid on two tries for centre Sam Watts - one with a kick and another with a cut-out pass - and another for five-eighth Ethan McKenna.
"(Tristan's) our little general, he leads us around the park and wherever he seems to go on the field he seems to find points," Bird said.
"As soon as we're turning around and we've got our back against the wall, we're finding a way to overcome it."
- Wauchope Blues co-coach Mat Bird
Wauchope raced out to a 12-0 lead after 15 minutes before the Pirates got a foothold in the match and they arguably finished the first 40 minutes the stronger with halfback Jordy Worboys steering his side around the park.
Several times he took advantage of a howling south-westerly breeze, but whenever the Blues were challenged, the ladder-leaders had the answers.
They never trailed at any point in the contest although errors forced them to defend their own line for large portions of the first half.
"The boys are just showing massive grit. As soon as we're turning around and we've got our back against the wall, we're finding a way to overcome it," Bird said.
Henry gave the Blues the ultimate compliment, describing them as being similar to National Rugby League powerhouse the Melbourne Storm.
"That's what Wauchope do, they don't beat you, they make you beat yourself. They're a class side and the equivalent of a Melbourne Storm in the NRL," he said.
"We took too many wrong choices which led to dropped balls which led to them capitalising on that. You can't give Wauchope possession in your end because they're going to put points on you all day."
League Tag: Wauchope Blues 54 Old Bar Pirates 0
Under 18's: Old Bar Pirates 26 Wauchope Blues 10
Reserve Grade: Wauchope Blues 14 Old Bar Pirates 10
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