Southern Inland Rugby Union
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GRIFFITH will claim bragging rights until the next clash with the Phantoms after registering a 37-10 victory at the Coro Club ground on Saturday.
After an even first half in which the Blacks had plenty of possession, but could only register a 3-0 lead, the Phantoms came apart through injury and rule interpretation, allowing the home side to run free.
"We started off pretty well," said coach Liam Ward.
"We knew being a local derby it would be a competitive match.
"We played probably our best football in the first 40 minutes and Griffith was only up 3-0 at half-time.
"They had 70 per cent of possession in the first half. They couldn't break our line because of our defence.
"We played really good football, we ground Griffith to a standstill."
The Phantoms went into the break confident and set some goals for the second half.
However, five minutes in and things started going awry.
Ward said there were two main reasons illegal play was not picked up and Leeton didn't play to the referee's whistle.
Ward cited two specific incidents a player tackled in the air taking the restart and a high tackle that were not picked up by the match officials.
As a result, while waiting for the whistle, Phantoms lost the ball and Griffith took advantage and two tries resulted.
"I don't like to criticise the refs, it was our fault, we should have played to the whistle," Ward said.
"It was a game changer. We had gone from being really competitive to having a try scored against us after the break.
"I never bag the ref, but the linesman standing in front of me has no excuse.
"Those two momentum changers from refereeing decisions tore the rug out form under us."
Despite the uphill battle, Scott Troldahl, Fili Tafili, Michael Wright playing out of position and Braiden Byrnes coming off the bench were all standouts for Ward.
He was in awe of Griffith's international Marika Vunibaka, but said Dennis Feagai "played all over him".
"(Vunibaka) is a class player, he is awesome," Ward said.
"It was like a young bull and an old bull, and Dennis won."
Despite the result, Ward is keeping his troops' spirits high.
"Up until 10 minutes to go then they put three or four tries on because you're exhausted," he said.
"You could see the disappointment in the last 10 minutes.
"I told them don't lose focus, don't lose your bundle.
"How the boys played was brilliant. I can't believe they're not putting wins on the board."
Results
Griffith 37 d Leeton 10 (try - Dennis Feagai; con - Scott Troldahl; pen - Scott Troldahl)
Second grade
Griffith 52 d Leeton 5