ON Wednesday, 22 June, 50 Bulahdelah Central School (BCS) students and five teachers travelled to Gloucester to compete in the annual Chris Hoare Cup.

Due to weather and COVID it was the first time since 2019 that the event was held.

Students competed in touch football, soccer, U14 rugby league and opens rugby league.

“The day began with the girls’ soccer, touch football and the U14 boys rugby league all being held on different fields,” said BCS PDH teacher Ashlee Styles.

The girls’ soccer was a hotly contested match with neither side scoring until the last minute of the match.

“The girls defended like champions and took every attacking opportunity they had, all the while having no substitutions,” Ashlee said.

“Our captain, Amber Cunningham, scored the winning goal in the dying minutes of the game to make the final score 1-0.”

The girls touch football side were defeated by Gloucester 11-5, with Lilly Carter and Daisy Wilton scoring one try each and Marli Mobbs scoring two.

“Marli was the player of the day, steering the side around the field and involved in all plays, scoring two of her own tries which was the highest by a player in the match.”

The under 14 boy’s rugby league side, who had never played a game together before, were also involved in a thrilling contest.

“We had eleven excited players take the field without any reserves,” said Ashlee.

Gloucester scored the first two tries, before BCS’s Ricky Nguyen crossed the line after a barnstorming run to make the score 8-4.

Gloucester scored again, quickly followed by a length of the field try scored by Toby Wilton.

“Toby was exceptional all game at guiding the boys around the field,” Ashlee said.

Going into halftime down 14-8, BCS hit back quickly after the restart, with Ricky Nguyen using power and strength to score his second try under the posts.

A Darcy Wilton conversion brought the score to 14-14, before Gloucester scored again in the last ten minutes of the game to make the final score 20-14.

“All boys should be immensely proud of their participation and performance!” Ashlee said.

The open boy’s rugby league was a strong and powerful match with plenty of hard-hitting from both sides.

“Much like the U14’s, our boys had never played a game as a team before.

“Tom Doyle was an exceptional leader on the field, guiding the boys around the park and making several line breaks and some superb tackles. He also scored our two tries of the match.

“Tom McInerney was captivating at fullback, making several tackle busts and line breaks.

“The team all worked exceptionally well together, putting their bodies on the line against a much bigger and more experienced side.

“Unfortunately, we were defeated with the final score of 36-8,” Ashlee said.

Both rugby league teams were lucky enough to have ex-Penrith Panthers and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs player Tim Browne as their coach on the day, guiding all the boys and providing expert advice when needed.

“We can’t thank him enough for all of the time and effort that he has put in with the boys to get them ready and able to play the matches.

“When I thanked Tim his response was ‘I should be thanking you! You’ve enabled me to do what I love for the school where I began’.

“He was immensely proud and honoured to have been able to come back to his former high school and provide young players of the game with his knowledge and skills.

“He can’t wait for next year!

Even though BCS were unable to bring home the Chris Hoare Cup all teams are congratulated for their participation and performance.

“Every student represented BCS with pride and should be immensely proud of themselves.

“We’ll be back bigger and better next year!” said Ashlee.