THERE was heartbreak for the Kempsey Cannonballs on Saturday as they went down 23-22 to Port Macquarie Pirates.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Playing on a rain soaked pitch at Crescent Head, a try to the visitors in the dying stages of the game put them in reach of victory with a conversion putting them over the line.
Cannonballs coach, Jared Fuller, said the final score line was tough to take for his side.
“It was really disappointing to lose a game like that right at the death because I thought we had done enough to win,” he said.
“We dominated possession and field position in the first half but just couldn’t go on with it. It didn’t help that we were on the wrong end of a one sided penalty count in the second as that’s how they were able to gain momentum.”
The home side was on song in the first half with a try to Jesse Ball opening the scoring before an intercept try to Matt South reinforced their advantage.
Dennis Ritchie scored the side’s third with the Pirates crossing over just before half time to make the score 22-11 at the break.
The second half proved tough for the Cannonballs as the teams lead was gradually whittled away by the opponents.
The Pirates’ comeback was not without controversy with fervent appeals for a knock-on during the lead up to the Pirates final ignored by the referee.
While the result didn’t go their way, Fuller said there were still plenty of strong individual performances from his team.
“Matt South did a really good job directing the team at five eighth and I thought Carl Thurgood and Jesse Ball also did well,” he said.
“We are not at the stage we want to be at in terms of the way we play so all we can do is work on progressing every week.”
There was better news for the reserves as they recorded a 20-7 win against the Pirates.