The slippery slope of losses continued for the Gunnedah Red Devils First XV after they were beaten 47-17 by Walcha on Saturday.
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The Devils now play a preliminary, or elimination final, on Sunday against Inverell, for their last shot at a Tier 2, Central North Rugby grand final berth.
It was the Devils’ fifth straight loss and their third consecutive on home turf, spliced a bye round mid-streak.
It’s a far cry from their prime position earlier this season when on the cusp of a Tier 1 semi-final berth.
“They haven’t just been beaten by a bit either, they’ve been big margins,” Devils co-coach Tim Walsh said.
“They have all been close games until the win is just out of reach, then the score blows out.
“They just can’t seem to get to the lead and go on with it.”
The last time the Devils savoured victory was in June when they beat Inverell 34-17.
Asked whether the side had forgotten how to win, Walsh said perhaps that was part of the problem.
“I think that does play on their mind,” he said.
“It’s been six weeks since they last won a game.”
The Devils “started ok” and trailed only 17-10 in last weekend’s match.
But a few quick tries to Walcha shortly after the break was the straw that broke it.
“The effort was there, just the execution wasn’t,” he said.
“We knew it was going to be on and they [Walcha] captialised every time.”
The Devils’ defence lagged at times, particularly missed first-up tackles, while Walcha’s set-pieces also proved tough-going.
“They pushed our scrum around a bit,” he said.
Walsh thought Walcha had the better intent on gameday and a “point to prove”, motivated by earlier season standings.
“We were the team that knocked them out of the top tier in the first place,” he said.
Reserve grade are through to the grand final after a 26-13 win against Barraba last weekend.
Gunnedah will also host the reserve grade elimination final between Barraba and Scone on Sunday.
