Darcy stars as Fishies claim first Group 11 league tag title

Nick Guthrie - Daily Liberal 

Dubbo CYMS take out the Group 11 league tag crownAll the action from the decider against Parkes

Majayda Darcy has defied two broken bones in her foot to score two stunning tries and lift Dubbo CYMS to the club’s first Group 11 league tag title.

The young flier sent the Caltex Park crowd into a frenzy with a cracking 70-metre effort in the first half before showing off her swift footwork in the second term to complete a double and star in the 20-10 victory over last year’s premiers Parkes Spacecats.

She showed little to no effects of the foot injury during the game, but was noticeably limping post match.

CYMS coach Gerry ‘Chicka’ Merritt sung the praises of Darcy, her efforts helping the Fishies exact revenge on a Spacecats side that trumped the green and whites in last year’s extra-time epic.

“Bloody oath, she’s excellent,” Merritt said of the rising league tag gun.

“She’s certainly one of the talents in the Group, by far. We’ve got a good punch of girls. It’s a credit to them.

“We’ve been training since November. They’re a great bunch to be around. They deserve it. Minor premiers, to go on and win the grand final is a bonus.”

After a fairly even start with a smattering of errors from both teams, CYMS struck first blood.

Skipper Nicole Grose skipped out of acting half down the short side and, using the overlap, put Madeline Towney through a gaping hole to score.

The kick was wide from newly crowed Group 11 league tag player of the year Kaitlyn Mason, leaving the score at 4-0.

But an error off the kick-off handed Parkes the ball back within striking distance, and Claire Barber was good enough to take advantage.

The Spacecats skipper latched on to a kick that took a deflection near the posts and dove over to score a great try, referee Troy Warner awarding the try despite some protests from the CYMS girls.

Barber’s kick was good, handing Parkes a two-point lead after 13 minutes.

CYMS then shifted up a gear, Mason laying on the next try for the Fishies for Shanae Daley before Darcy streaked away for a 70-metre pearler to shoot the minor premiers out to a 14-6, which was maintained at the break.

Darcy then put her stamp on the second half as well.

Parkes star India Draper busted through in her own half and in a scintillating chase, Darcy tagged the Spacecats flier.

On the next set with the ball, she then produced a stellar shimmy, step and turn of speed to score her second try. Mason’s goal was good and it bumper CYMS out to a 20-6 lead.

Defence dominated the rest of the game before Barber capped a strong individual outing with a second four-pointer right on full time, the consolation try making the final score 20-10.

“Very happy, it’s a completely different team to last year. We never expected to make it this far,” Parkes coach Joe Spicer said.

With just four players from last year’s title winning Parkes side in the 2017 team, experience played a massive part in the decider.

“A lot of those CYMS girls played in the grand final last year, and then played really well all year,” Spicer added.

“We’ve taken a while to find out feet. Eventually we got a bit of momentum but the experience at the end was the difference.”

Merritt said the plan from the outset was simple. 

“To play good field position, take our chances when they came and defend our butts off,” the premiership winning coach smiled.

• DUBBO CYMS 20 (Majayda Darcy 2, Shanae Daley, Madeline Towney tries; Kaitlyn Mason 2 goals) def PARKES SPACECATS 10 (Claire Barber 2 tries; Claire Barber goal)