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Rugby come second in State

The Brisbane Water Secondary College (BWSC) 15 Years rugby team were runners-up in the State Buchan Shield competition.

They lost to Westfield High School which had much bigger players.

Woy Woy led 8-5 at half time, but could not hold the lead.

The BWSC team has had success in this competition over the years and won the State Title in 1999.

After a bye in Round 1 this season, BWSC defeated Gosford High and Berkeley Vale High in the early rounds.

In Round 4, BWSC had a great win over Kincumber High at their school.

This was a close and intensely fought match.

Tim Bovis in the centres really played well, and crossed for two excellent tries.

His goal kicking was also a feature and he landed some great goals from the sideline.

Winger Kyall Walford also scored a good backline try.

The team has an excellent backline and the forwards were able to win enough ball to put the cleaners through the Kincumber High side.

This final score was a 19-5 win to the Brisbane Water Side.

This win made the team central Coast Champions for 2002.

BWSC then played Morisset High, the Hunter Champions for the eastern Province title and the right to enter the State Quarter finals.

BWSC had some tough games with Morisset in the past and this was no diffenrent.

However BWSC had too much class for the opposition and recored a good 29-12 win.

The team ran in five tries, with inside centre John Crocker scoring two, half Chris Hyde, five-eighth Alex Brown and fullback Daniel Nichols all scoring one each.

All the tries were scored by the halfbacks.

However the best player on the field was Shane Lewis who never stopped going forward all day.

Another good forward was second-rower Luke McDonald.

The team then played Galston High in the state quarter final.

The match was organised for Parramatta stadium on the August 18 as a curtain raiser to the First Grade Parramatta v West Harbour match.

The venue was great and the atmosphere involved in the playing at a stadium did affect the players in the early stages of the game.

The team had a good lead-up but it took the team quite a while to settle down.

Within the first 15 minutes of the start Galston High had jumped to a 10-0 lead courtesy of a penalty goal, then a converted try.

A try just before the break was crucial.

Second-rower Tim Bovis crashed over for a good try to make the half time score 10-5.

The team continued to play good rugby in the second half.

BWSC had several chances to put on further points but it was not until midway through the half when winger Dean Kerr crossed in the corner to square up the game at 10-10.

Fullback Luke McDonald was playing well, as was no.8 Daniel Fitzgerald and prop Shane Lewis.

With about ten minutes remaing five-eight Alex Brown capped off a great game by scoring a try in the corner.

The try followed a wonderful individual run.

This made the score 15-10 and that remained the score until the fulltime whistle.

It was a great effort and the team had reached the NSW CHS Buchan shield semi-final.

In the Semi-Final the team played Asquith Boys High School at Granville Rugby Park on Thursday August 29.

It was a warm, sunny day and the match was a hard fought game which certainly took the toll on the players physically.

The college got away to a great start in the match.

They made several breaks but often a stray pass or desperate defence stopped us from scoring.

Finally, after an incisive backline move, inside centre John Crocker scored in the corner to open the scoring.

This lead was increased a little later when Tim Bovis kicked a 35 metre penalty to take BWSC to the lead 8-0.

Prop Shane Lewis was all over the paddock and was strong in defence and attack.

Others to play well were outside centre Aaron Bull who made several penetrative runs and looked dangerous every time he touched the ball.

Number 8 Daniel Fitzgerald cleaned up a lot of loose ball while Adam Wysocki ran like a man possessed.

In the minutes before halftime Asquith certainly got back into the game.

They attacked the line from close quarters continually and finally broke through for a try under the posts.

The conversion of this try made the halftime score 8-7 in favour of BWSC.

The players went to the break exhausted.

It had been a torrid game played in quite warm conditions.

The team came back well in the second half.

BWSC scored a try early in the second half, a result of another backline movement and once again was scored by John Crocker.

The try saw some excellent lead-up work by five eight Alex Brown.

However Asquith hit back strongly once again.

They attacked for quite awhile before crossing for a try in the corner.

This made the score 13-12 to BWSC and that remained the score for quite a large part of the second half.

This period of play saw some great defensive work from the Peninsula team and great tackling from breakaway Ryan Varley, second-rower Chris Lloyd and fullback Luke McDonald saw the team through a very hectic period.

The team was able to convert a penalty goal to go to a 16-12 lead before second-rower Tim Bovis scored a great try in the corner right on fulltime to win the match by 23 points to 12.

The final score did not indicate the tightness and intensity of the match.

The team was now in the State Final of the Buchan Shield and will play at T.G Milner Field on Sunday September 15.

Umina High won the Buchan shield in1999 and to reach the final again in this prestigious competition is a wonderful advertisement for their rugby and for schools rugby on the Central Coast as a whole.

The Buchan Shield started off with just under 300 teams in the competition and now it is down to the final two.

School newsletter, September 6