Round 11 Reserves – Douch double lifts Whites in dominant bounce back
By Brodie Campbell
The biggest highlight of our trip out to Jamison on the weekend was produced by our Reserves boys as they managed to put their horror 40-7 loss in round 10 far behind them, as they produced their best win of the season by defeating the Western District Lions 33-7 in their Spence Cup matchup.
The Whites have been fighting to keep themselves in the final’s equation all season, but saw their chances take a big hit when they were demolished by Royals at Phillip Oval just a few weeks ago. The match ended in a 40-7 scoreline, with Queanbeyan's only points coming from a penalty try awarded in the final minute of the contest. The loss was extremely disappointing for fans, particularly since the Whites had strung together a series of resilient victory, so experiencing such a heavy loss was a major setback.
Queanbeyan came into their contest with the Lions keen to make a statement with their response, and not be the team who the winless Lions would beat. The Whites were also pleased to welcome back Jackson Stuart to the starting side after a long-term injury, bolstering the side’s outside back stocks at a crucial point in the season.
Any nerves quickly settled within the first two minutes of the contest, as five-eighth Mitchell Douch, crashed across on the right-hand side to give the Whites an early lead.
The Lions would cross over soon after to take the lead back through Nofoasa Lemalu, with the conversion giving Wests a narrow 7-5 after the first 10 minutes.
The lead would be short-lived for the Lions as Queanbeyan managed to claw their way back in front through Jack Negus in the 15th minute to take 10-7 lead, which would then remain the score through the rest of the first half. Neither side’s attacks were able to breach the defence, and the Whites were just able to hold on to the lead as they went into half time.
The second half can only be described as a reawakening of the old Whites, as their attack began to look in sync once again. Mitchell Douch kicked off the scoring just as he did in the first half, producing a spectacular individual try from the halfway line to give himself a double. Douch broke through the defensive line to find open space, before chipping the ball over the top of scrambling defenders and regathering to score just to the right of the goal posts.
That individual brilliance gave the visitors confidence and momentum as they went in to score again through Maligi Finau and Cameron Stanley to give the Whites a resounding 33-7 lead. As the final siren went off, the celebrations from the players and its fans were truly representative of how much the victory meant, as there smiles and cheers across Jamison Oval.
In the other games from Saturday, the Colts kept their hot streak going with an impressive 34-20 victory, whilst the women's team were beaten 43-10, and the Firsts team narrowly went down 48-42.
For match reports on other grades see our website: Queanbeyan Whites
Firsts: Tries: Koko Salim (2), Nathan Carroll (1), Blake Miller (1), Tuaina Taii Tualima (1), Kye Darmody (1). Conv: Cullin Cooper-Jones (6).
Reserves: Tries: Mitchell Douch (2), Jack Negus (1), Mailigi Finau (1), Cameron Stanley (1). Conv: Jack Negus (4).