However, there was only one winner from the Upper Lachlan Cup clash on Saturday, and it was the Crookwell Dogs. 

It was a heated affair from the outset, and Taralga signalled their intent when they crossed within the first five minutes and converted successfully to take a 0-7 lead. 

The Dogs eventually fought back, and soon levelled the score at 7-7; however, scoring would continue to prove difficult as the weather grew drearier throughout the afternoon. 

Clouds hovered overhead all day, but as the Lachlan Cup clash grew more heated, the rain fell more consistently, which made the ground slick with mud and ensured that the players found smooth passages of play hard to come by. 

Slowly, the match turned into a mud-splattered wrestle for possession, and Taralga earned another brief lead thanks to a penalty goal which put them up 7-10. 

Shortly before half time, the Dogs levelled the scores once again with a penalty goal of their own, but going into the break it seemed as though Taralga had started to swing the momentum their way. 

Once the second half began, the fight for the upper hand intensified. Both teams approached the tryline but couldn’t find space to cross. 

That is, until Ryan Seaman sidestepped and slipped half a dozen tackles to finally break the deadlock in the 60th minute of play. 

He crossed next to the goal posts, and an easy conversion followed. 

Despite Taralga’s best efforts, they were unable to find an opportunity to score thanks to some stoic defense from the home side, and when the final buzzer rang, Crookwell were the winners, 17-10. 

Dogs coach Ian McIntosh said that the deciding factor was the speed with which Crookwell adapted to the wet weather. 

“We had a dry weather plan, but we changed it to a wet weather plan, and it come off at times,” McIntosh said. 

The match also marked the retirement of club stalwart Fred Bensley, and McIntosh believes that the team pushed themselves harder to give their mate a fitting send-off in his last game. 

“They were down and out [at times], but yet they rallied around for Fred Bensley, who played his last game in 20 years,” he said. 

Taralga right flanker, Tom Croker, said that the wet weather did indeed impact the outcome of the match, but said that it wasn’t an excuse. 

“It did [impact us], but you can’t blame that,” Croker said. “That’s footy. You can still take a lot from that.” 

The match snapped Taralga’s unbeaten streak this season, however they will remain on top of the ladder, and Crookwell will stay at second, based on their points. 

The Dogs are the only team to remain unbeaten this season, and now boast eight wins from eight matches played. 

They will next look to their round ten clash against Gungahlin on June 16. 

That match will prove an interesting challenge for the Dogs. 

While Gungahlin have not had the strongest season up to this point, they are coming off three wins from their last four matches, including a strong victory over the ever-improving Yass Rams side. 

While Gungahlin have only won three matches this year, their points for and against columns remain relatively even. This is indicative of the number of tight finishes they’ve managed and will reinforce the need for the Dogs to be on their game. 

The Upper Lachlan Cup was held in conjunction with the Crookwell Dogs’ Charity Day, wherein the club collaborated with numerous local organisations and businesses to raise funds for the Crookwell Community Trust and Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Australia. 

Club president Ally Jaffrey was pleased with the turnout, and said that the town is always happy to support a good cause. 

“[The turnout is] pretty good, considering the weather’s not as nice as we’ve had for other home games so far this season,” Jaffrey said. 

“We find that is one of the benefits of being in Crookwell, is that the community is just amazing. We always try and do little give-backs somehow in the community, and today’s been a great opportunity to do that.”

The first clash of the day was the meeting between the Over 45’s Dated Dogs and the ‘93 Invincibles. 

It was a match which featured gentle tackles and more than one collapsed scrum, and ended with smiles all ‘round from both sides as the Invincibles continued their unbeaten streak. 

This was followed by the Over 35s Dated Dogs, who took on the Broulee Golden Oldies Dolphins team in a slightly more physical encounter than the match prior.