By REBECCA STONE
IN the first of the New England Rugby semi-finals played at Bellevue Oval on Saturday the Armidale Blues hung on against last year’s premiers the UNE Barbarians who unleashed a final desperate attack deep in the second half.
The last-minute lunge from the BaaBaas was too little too late with the Blues winning 27-21 to progress through to next weekend’s grand final.
The narrow victory came for the Blues side despite a high error count which kept the Baa Baas in the game and ensured it went right down to the wire.
Blues head coach Alan Jones described the performance of his side as one of their worst games.
“It was a game where both sides were quite even and I wasn’t very happy with the way we played,” he said.
At half-time, the Blues went into the break leading the Baa Baa’s by six points with a 13-7 score-line. The narrow margin on the scoreboard was a reflection of how the game was being played out on the field.
“We kept the Baa Baa’s in the game with silly errors and to the credit of both sides it went down to the very last minutes of the match.”
Both sides came out in the second half looking to rectify the mistakes of the first half and take control of the grand final qualifier. In the end it was the Blues who were able to dig in when it counted and hold on for victory.
“When we needed to raise the tempo of the game, we attacked the line and ran direct allowing us to get in behind them and work the break-down well,” Alan Jones said.
In the second semi final, minor premiers St Alberts College defeated their fierce college rivals Robb College 20-3 and will now look forward to taking on the Blues.
“It obviously wasn’t our best performance of the year, but if you can win playing badly in the semi final, you’re always in with a chance in the grand final,” Jones conceded.
