By Casey O'Connor
The Tenterfield Tigers led by captain Brendan Minns secured the first Premiership in the newly minted Border Rivers League competition last Saturday.
A home grand final at Rugby League Park in Tenterfield would normally draw a crowd from both but due to COVID restrictions numbers were reduced and the Roosters supporters were confined to trainers managers and officials. The Tigers went into the game with a 3-1 winning record over the Roosters during the fixtures.
The Roosters were confident following their solid 26-10 win over the Cowboys C Grade side in the Preliminary final.
This was always going to be a tough final.
Both sides had several chances in the first half but in the greasy conditions the attacking raids were brought undone by handling errors as play see sawed from end to end without points being scored. With less than two minutes on the clock before the half time break, the Tigers made a break down field and a pass from the Tenterfield second rower to Brendan Minns found its mark. Minns tipped the ball on to Cassidy Thrift who planted the ball under the sticks for the first try of the game.
As the half time hooter sounded Tyler Sargeant converted the try to take a 6-nil lead into the break.
Only nine minutes into the second half play was delayed when Inglewood player Charlie Deroux was injured in an awkward tackle. There was a great deal of concern for the injured player and the clock stopped as an ambulance was called.
It was a blow to the Roosters who had already lost Tim Brennan with a ligament injury suffered in the first half.
When play resumed the second half looked much like the fist with scoring opportunities stymied by poor ball control and turn overs.
With 20 to go in the game the Tigers Brendan Blaker scored in the corner and a beautiful kick from Sargeant gave the Tigers a 12-0 lead.
The Tigers defended their lead until the roosters cracked the defence with five minutes remaining in the game. Mitch Stafford converted and with only five minutes on the clock it was a grandstand finish. The score 12-6 and the Roosters had momentum. The Tigers lost possession close to their line and the roosters Kane Elder scored with under two minutes remaining. Roosters kicker Mitch Stafford had the chance to equalise, but his kick hit the upright and as the hooter sounded the Tigers celebrated a 12-10 win in a nail biter. Tyler Sargeant was named player of the final.
