BULAHDELAH Central School’s Open Rugby team won the Cup Hoare Cup following a nail-biting finish in extra time against Gloucester High School last week.

With a homeadvantage, BCS dominated the first half with a good kicking game from Tea Gardens local Sonny Marks.

Jake Curnow scored two tries early on with both converted leading to a commanding 12-0 lead at half time.

Gloucester came out determined in the second half and responded with a try, but BCS kicked back scoring a try of their own giving the home team a comfortable 18-6 lead.

In the final 10 minutes, Gloucester took advantage of the tiring BCS defence and evened the score.

Golden point extra time was declared with the win to be awarded to the first team to score.

KyanBriffa dug deep, burrowing through the Gloucester defence to score the match winning try claiming victory for BCS with a final score of 24-18.

Coach Brian Belic said it was a great game as everyone got in and gave it their best.

“I commend the efforts of both teams and all the individual players who put that effort into play today,” Mr Belic told News Of The Area.

“The work of the Bulahdelah team was all about throwing in 110 precent and I congratulate them on their win.”

The annual competition between BCS and Gloucester High School is played to celebrate the sporting achievements of former BCS student Chris Hoare whose life was tragically taken in 1996.

Chris’s parents Jenny and Steve said they were very proud to see both sides give it their all.

“Being here to support the teams is a great experience and they should all be commended for their participation and effort,” Mrs Hoare said.

“We are very impressed with both the Bulahdelah and Gloucester teams and Bulahdelah especially should be proud of their win.”

The inaugural match was played in 2004 and BCS and Gloucester have now claimed the victory six times each.