The weekly schedule of the Barraclough Cup was re-shuffled for round nine due to wet weather the weekend prior.
The Univeristy of New South Wales made the trip north to be hosted at Turramurra memorial oval by the Barker Old Boys who are currently the second on the ladder for the Barraclough Cup.
It was a game based heavily on commitment, both teams able to form valuable attack against one-another throughout the game.
UNSW asserted dominance early, working deep into the Bobs half off kick off before centre (12) was able to break the defence and get over for the first try.
The Old Boys returned with aggressive phase-play, second rower Jordan Smith able to get over the line at one stage but was held up. Smith got over the line during an advantage, however, and so allowed his fly-half, Steven Hayter an attempt at goal from in front, which he slotted successfully.
Maintaining organisation and intensity, a lineout five metres out saw winger Mark Whiteley link up with second rower Jordan Smith who was then able to pop off to hooker, Ben Ryan, who barrelled over the line.
Play remained fairly dominated by the Old Boys until UNSW worked up field into the Bobs 22. Holding possession for long enough to crash flanker (7) over the line, this brought the score to 14-10.
But, again the Bobs remained focus, Fullback Hugh Doran breaking the defensive line before spreading the ball to winger, Nathan Malcolm for a try in the corner.
UNSW were not out of it for long, working down field off penalties and using a lineout five metres out for a solid maul allowing second rower (4) a try for his team.
Before half time, UNSW looked to be on a roll, using momentum to get back into the Bobs half and have another penalty shot at goal.
The penalty was made and the scores were 19-18 heading into the half.
However the second half would prove the most impacting on the shape of the game, as the Bobs remained committed to the win and UNSW couldn’t manage to hold them out for long.
Bobs’ forwards Ben Ryan, Martin Donaldson and Hari Caulfield showed great handling skills, working about 60 metres up the field between themselves.
This got their team in great stead for another shot at goal when a penalty was called, which was again slotted easily.
Off the kick off, Ben Ryan returned possession to the Bobs fullback Hugh Doran who made another cheeky break before discharging a massive pass to the wing for Malcolm Nathan to run on to and break for the line for another try.
UNSW looked to reshape the game for a little while, but as they spread the ball in attack, fullback Hugh Doran intercepted and ran over 60 metres to the try line.
The score was now 19-35 and the Bobs had done some serious damage in quite a small time frame.
About 10 minutes later, after holding out numerous Bobs attempts the UNSW side were finally able to strike back, using their centre; (13) breaking before offloading to (12) for a try under the posts.
The final score was 35-26.
