THE Snowy River Bears celebrated Ladies Day at JJ Connors Oval in Jindabyne, but that was the only celebration for the home teams as the Crookwell Devils won both games.

The ladies' tag team were outclassed by the visitors 12-38, and the men’s team were no match for the red-hot Devils, who won 6-46.

The Bears' men’s team was sloppy in the first stages of the game, letting the Devils run amok to score what the Bears would say were soft tries. The game was as good as over after the first 15 minutes.

Three Devils tries in the third, fifth, and tenth minutes allowed the visitors to set a commanding 16-point lead before the Bears crossed for a try by Tiai Tu in the thirteenth minute. From then on, it was one-way traffic as the Bears' line was constantly peppered.

The Bears were in more trouble with key player Tui Samoa leaving the field inside the first ten minutes with what he thought was a torn calf muscle. If so, that will be the end of Tui’s season.

At 6-16, the Bears needed to shore up the defensive line and stop the easy metres, but today they were not up to the task. They would concede one more try, which originated from a charge down by the opposition. From the ensuing play, the Devils would score again, leaving the Bears down 6-20 at halftime.

After the game, halfback Wayne Crisp said their line speed was terrible, which allowed the Devils to gain easy metres. “Very soft tries, and no reserves either, made it pretty hard,” said Crisp, commenting on the overall result.

The entire second half seemed to be all Devils, the Bears only threatening to score on one occasion.

The Devils' left winger Joshua Patterson scored three second-half tries with near-identical plays. From the middle of the field, quick long passes found the Bears' defence stretched and an easy passage to the line for Patterson. Adding his first half try and five conversions, he had a handy tally of 26 personal points.

For the Bears, it will be back to the drawing board and working on their defensive effort.

It was not a lack of trying, just execution. The missed tackles will be the key stat that needs rectifying.

Ladies Tag

The ladies tried their hardest, but the Crookwell side were just too strong, scoring eight tries to the Bears’ two in a lopsided affair.

It was played in good spirit, and at times the Beras showed moments of brilliance. But in the end, the Devils were a well-drilled team and ran away with the victory 12-38.

It was great to see the junior kids putting on a display of great tag footy, with plenty of talent on display by the boys and girls.