The Narooma Devils Under 18s capped off a great year with a well-earned 30-8 victory over the Batemans Bay Tigers on the Carlton Red Energy Group 16 Grand Final day at Bega last Saturday.
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With Bega in the unusual situation having bushfires in nearby Bemboka and snow ploughs clearing roads on Brown Mountain, the crowd froze through the day.
The young Devils started brightly, but it took fifteen minutes to get on the scoreboard when Clyde Parsons followed up his own kick to score under the posts. A hard run from Liam Sweeney earned him a try ten minutes later and the Devils maintained a 10-0 lead into the sheds.
Connor Martin scored a great try five minutes into the second half, which Clyde converted to give the Devils a 16-0 lead.
Batemans Bay hung in there, and hit back five minutes later with a try to Will Shoemark to cut the lead to 12.
Blake Zideluns was next to score for the Devils with a blistering, sixty-metre try that had the crowd on its feet.
The Bay hit straight back through Jack Colovatti, but another missed conversion left the score at 22-8 with 13 minutes to play.
The match was sealed when Mat Parsons scooped up a loose Tigers pass to run fifty metres before finding the mercurial Clyde on the inside to score under the posts.
The Devils kicked a penalty on the full-time siren, as captain Jackson Kelly put one over to cap off a 30-8 win.
The Parsons boys were the stand outs on the day, with Clyde taking home the man-of-the-match award. Credit must also go to the forward pack of Javana Fereti, Jack Godfrey, Marcus Lonsdale, Connor Martin, and Jackson Kelly who never took a backwards step against a tough Batemans Bay pack.
Coach Mark Lonsdale and manager Kerry Day deserve heaps of credit for the work they have done with the boys, and we hope that these young players stick around to play with the Devils for years to come.
Thanks to everyone who helped the Narooma Devils in some way this year, either by playing, volunteering, sponsoring, or just supporting the club.
The Devils Presentation Night will be held on Friday, September 14 at the Narooma Hotel. More information will be on the Devils Facebook page soon.