Schoolboy rugby league
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LEETON High School's spectacular run in the University Shield came to an end in the Sydney mud on Tuesday morning.
The Leeton side was knocked out in the quarter finals of the state-wide competition by Canterbury Boys High School in a low-scoring affair on a boggy second-choice field.
Canterbury Boys High won the game 13-6 after leading 12-0 at half-time.
Teacher Dave Killen, who coached the side alongside Gary Wilesmith, said with his side playing the better football in the second half, the game was in the balance right to the end.
"They kicked a field goal with a minute to go," he said.
The day started badly when a new venue had to be found for the game.
"The field was like a swamp," Killen said. "The ground we were supposed to play on got closed and they found a school close that had a field, but it didn't have any line markings."
Killen admitted the side hadn't played as well as in the previous two rounds. However, it was not surprising given the bulk of the players were backing up from a long campaign, punctuated by hard-hitting Group 20 under 18s fixtures, including a local derby last weekend followed by a lengthy bus trip on Monday.
"They stuck it out and were the better team in the second half," he said.
"They tried really hard. They crossed for three tries and they were all disallowed.
"The decisions really seemed to go against us. The penalty count was 6-1 and they didn't touch the ball in the first eight minutes of the game."
Leeton's sole try was scored by Kye Reynolds, with Bas Blackett kicking the conversion.
"(Canterbury's) strength was their size, they had a big forward pack, a couple of big props," Killen said.
"The conditions really suited them. It took our quicker blokes out of the game.
"It was disappointing to lose the game. On a different day we probably would have won.
"To get that far we're pretty proud and to be competitive against these big schools."