Cody Butt making his Under 18’s debut against Cootamundra.
The Junee Diesels have continued their impressive mid-season form, defeating local rivals Cootamundra Bulldogs 36 points to 22 at Les Boyd Oval in Cootamundra on Saturday, July 11.
The Diesels may be heading down the path to a fairytale semi finals appearance in their centenary year and there’s something building at the club with the side finding some consistency and some strike.
Boosted by the inclusion of representative fullback Daniel Foley, the Diesels made a strong start to the match, although 15 minutes in, they found themselves behind 10-nil after Cootamundra scored two quick tries against the run of play.
Finding their way back into the game after being stunned by the home sides pair of scores, Captain-Coach Chase Bernard delivered a short ball for Jaydyn Hoeta who ran into space before finding Stu Dunbar in support and crossed.
The Diesels troubled the scorer again quickly after their first points, with Foley finishing off a slick backline movement to level the scores.
Just as it looked like both teams would head to sheds for half time locked up at 10 apiece, Junee made the most of a 12-man Cootamundra defence with Bernard regathering a Connor Garrety grubber to send the Diesels into the break ahead by six points.
Returning for the second half the Diesels again looked to be on top early, this time they were able to convert their opportunities and scored again through a Dunbar cut out pass to centre, Tevita Toloi.
Down 20-10, the Bulldogs needed to be next to score and were, trimming Junee’s lead to four with a converted try, a score which the game would remain at for the following 10 minutes.
Both sides looked to assert their dominance over that period, but it would be Bernard who would come up with the crucial play to help Junee push further ahead, finding space behind the ruck before a succession of passes saw Cooper Wright score in the corner.
Toloi grabbed his second off a high kick with only a quarter of the half left to play, while it was quickly followed by Damel Diakhate putting an exclamation mark on the result with a nice piece of support play after a Jordan Walker line break.
Cootamundra managed a consolation try to bring the final margin a little closer, but the Diesels cemented their position inside the competitions top 5 with a fourteen-point victory, 36-22.
Five wins from their past seven games has Junee primed for a big back end to the season, with their only two losses during that period a one-point loss to second placed Temora and a two-point loss to reigning premiers Gundagai, who sit in first position.
Diesels coach Damian Willis says belief is a big factor in the sides ability to be patient and come from behind in games.
“There is a massive amount of belief in this side and the boys are enjoying their footy with each other. We are trying to stray not too far from our structures and that has resulted in a lot of belief in what we are doing as the boys do not panic or become flustered” Willis commented.
Looking ahead to this week and Willis said this weekend will be massive for the entire club, not only on the field as they take on Young Cherrypickers, but off the field as well. The Diesels are holding their Centenary season celebrations post-match as well as a 40 Year Reunion of the triple Premiership year of 1986, where the club won Under 18’s, Reserve Grade and First Grade premierships.
“We have made no secret that our main goal is to play finals footy, which we haven’t since 2018. Young’s been one of the benchmarks of the competition for the past few seasons so it will be a nice gauge as to where we are at, whilst it will also be exciting to have many past players cheer us on and we look forward to the celebrations that will be held following the footy”
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