The Stallions first grade squad and ladies league tag side the Fillies travelled to Ulludulla on Saturday to play a round robin format trial game against Milton Ulludulla and the Cootamundra Bulldogs.
The ladies played a hard fought draw against the home side first up. The weather was very warm at this time and with only 11 players they acquitted themselves well and were able to hold onto the draw. The girls then had a 10 minute break before backing up against a much younger outfit from Cootamundra.
Again the heat and second game in a row was showing but they have trained hard in the pre-season and were very unlucky to go down by one try to nil.
The third game was a combined side from Cooma and Cootamundra against the home team and again the result ended up in a draw. The ladies should be very proud of their performances as half of the team was made up of new comers and this was their first outing with the Fillies so all looks good for the season ahead. The players player for the day went to Abby Schofield while the player of the day was shared amongst two of the new players in Hannah Alchin and Teresa Dunn.
The first grade squad kicked off their day against the Ulludulla A side. The boys played well and were able to cross over for their first try of the year thanks to Andrew Boller. Sam Dowsett converted putting the boys ahead 6 nil.
Ulludulla responded with a huge kick that saw their winger gain a lucky bounce and cross over in the corner. They were unable to convert and the game finished with a win to the Stallions 6-4. They boys then came up against a red hot Cootamundra side.
The guys tried hard but with only two reserves the heat and the pace of the game started to show and Cootamundra scored a couple of late tries to win the match. The final game was against the Ulludulla B side and it was a pretty even affair until Ulludulla scored a lucky try right on half time giving them the lead.
This was the Stallions' third game and second on the trot so in the end Ulludulla crossed for a couple more tries coming away with the game. It was a good learning curve and one win and two losses showed their fitness was quite good but lack of possession telling in the end.
Tom Holmes, the English import, was awarded the player of the day. The Stallions now look forward to a couple of weeks training before the pre-season kicks off in early April.
