Henry dominated the second 40 minutes in what was at times a heated affair. The Tigers finished with 12 players on the park after five-eighth Danny Price was sent off by referee 13 minutes into the second half. Price and Taree City coach Matt Everitt became involved in a dispute at at one stage looked set to escalate before the players were parted. Referee Jason Allan sent Price off for the game and then gave Everitt a 10 minute stay in the sin bin. At the time both sides were down a player, with Taree City’s Broden Hamilton and Wingham’s Joel Kliendienst also serving time in the bin.

Wingham had a major disruption before the kickoff when captain-coach Danny Russell succumbed to a calf muscle injury sustained earlier in the week. Russell had to switch Nick Beacham from second row to halfback and call Brandon Clarke into the starting 13. Earlier Tyler Atkins had been shifted from the second row to centre to replace Joel Wilson, with Beau Collins earning a spot in the run-on team.

Despite this Wingham trotted off to the sheds at halftime leading 10-8. However, the Tigers made a mess of the kickoff to start the second half and from there Taree City dominated. Henry ran the show, either making darting runs or sending ball carriers through gaps. He scored a smart individual try under the posts to give the Bulls the lead and it was from there that Hamilton and Kliendienst were given time. Bruwyn Tisdell added the extras. Henry then instigated a raid on the short side late in the tackle count that saw centre Logan Wallis clear and he sent to ball back to Henry to dash over. The conversion by Tisdell gave Taree a dozen points in six minutes and a 20-10 lead.

Wingham managed to work play into the Taree half for one of the few occasions in the second stanza soon after Price and Everitt were dismissed and hooker Mitch Collins sent a short pass for Michael Richards to crash over. Michael Bailey’s goal reduced the margin to four with 24 on the clock.

However, unlike the first half the Bulls were completing their sets while Wingham’s attack lacked direction and punch, understandably with their fulcrum, Russell, watching from the sideline. A superb cutout pass from Henry was well gathered in by centre Dean Mills to scamper over for the Bulls and while the conversion was astray, the Bulls had secured the three competition points. Just before fulltime Everitt worked his way over for a converted try.

Hamilton was a strong performer for the Bulls and he made an immediate difference to the attack when introduced from the bench in the first half. Taree’s forwards won a points decision over the Tigers, with Will Clarke getting through plenty of work. Tisell didn’t do a lot wrong on the wing

Despite playing out of position Beacham was still Wingham’s most dangerous player in attack while Matt Bridge at fullback was lively. 

First half tries were scored by Fletcher Lewis and Beacham for Wingham while Tisdell managed two for the Bulls. Bailey converted Beacham’s try.

Taree City 30 (B Tisdell 2, M Henry 2, D Mills, M Everitt tries B Tisdell 5 goals) defeated Wingham 16 (F Lewis, N Beacham, M Richards tries, M Bailey 2 goals).