Brutal clash for the ages

Jeff Skeen and Don Dickson face off at McKittrick Park.

Gary Nichols

PLAYERS were left battered, bleeding and exhausted after the Grafton Ghosts overpowered the Rhinos 38-24 at McKittrick Park yesterday.

It was a local derby for the ages as both sides defended with brutality in arguably one of the best games of the season.

The win by the Ghosts saw them go through the season undefeated which is a credit to Col Speed and his young side.

Ghosts second-rower and two-try hero Grant Stevens described the game against the Rhinos as one of the toughest he’s played this season

“The first 20 minutes was probably the toughest game we’ve played this year,” an exhausted Stevens said after the game.

“They (Rhinos) were defensively strong and put mongrel into us. But credit to our boys, we stuck it back to them.

“We weathered the storm and hit back pretty well.”

Stevens – who pulled off some bone-crushing tackles – said to defeat the Rhinos at home was a fantastic effort but added to go through the season undefeated was a highlight of his career.

“I’ve never played in a team before who have been undefeated,” he said.

“It’s a pretty good achievement from such a young side.”

After a fiery initial period it was the Rhinos who controlled possession and the scoreboard going to an 8-4 lead midway through the first half.

But an alleged swinging arm by Rhinos centre Joe Ravueta left the Rhinos a player down and the visitors took full advantage

With Ravueta spending time in the sin bin Stevens and Anthony Don both crossed the tryline to give the Ghosts a comfortable 16-8 lead at the break.

Then five-minutes into the second half Aaron Hartmann made a bust out wide for Carson Galloway to score in the corner.

And Galloway was at it again soon after when he swooped on a loose pass to sprint 40 metres and score under the posts.

With their season on the line the home side rallied late in the half with tries to Josh Harris and Dwayne Duke who received a brilliant inside pass from replacement forward Rowan Hardy.

A mistake by the Rhinos early in the tackle count invited the Ghosts back into the game and Stevens made them pay when he crossed for his second four-pointer of the afternoon.

Players from both sides were off their feet and with only seconds remaining Rhinos captain Xavier Sullivan barged his way over for a final scoreline of 38-24 in the Ghosts’ favour.

Apart from Stevens Ghosts five-eight Dan Roberts was flawless in defence and attack while for the Rhinos Tim Tilse produced his finest performance in the Rhinos colours.