Five minutes before full time, the Reds trailed the Hall Bushrangers by 10 points and were looking down the barrel of their first defeat of the season.

The match lived up to its “top of the table” billing, with the Reds coming back after a weekend off against competition leaders Hall. After a fiery encounter between the two clubs in the 2014 second Grade final, in which Hall took home the silverware, everyone was expecting a tough day of Rugby.

It had been clear from the outset that Hall came to play, setting a strong platform with their “in the face” defence. Goulburn were being rushed in attack, preventing them rolling on through the forward pack and getting into a rhythm.

Sustained pressure resulted in tries for both sides before half-time, however Hall was only prevented from going further ahead on the scoreboard by some excellent scrambling defence by Goulburn outside backs including Mitch Webb and Adam Lachlan.

At half-time the clear message for the Reds was a need to take aggression levels up, straighten their running and dominate the ruck. However it was the Bushrangers who came out firing to start the half and began to build a lead through a large amount of continued possession and pressure.

With 20 minutes to go Goulburn were down 24-14 and looking shell-shocked as they faced their first loss in over 18 months. Some substitutes were shuffled on in the hope of adding some energy as the Reds looked to claw their way back into the match.

Working up the field Goulburn got themselves within five metres of Hall’s line, but the defence was holding strong. As Hall was repeatedly penalised in defence, tensions eventually gave way and a fight broke out that both teams a player down for the remainder of the match, but in the very next play Boyd Newby crashed over off a quick tap for a try which was converted by Dom Falk, leaving Goulburn three points behind with five minutes remaining.

From the kick off the Reds immediately began to build phases, and the backline threatened to score out wide from a full team movement before Isaac Walker was taken into touch.

With the clock ticking down, Hall threw a questionable short lineout which Brad Clements managed to intercept. Now only five metres out, Hall repelled multiple phases of forward running before Jack Brims crashed over for a try in the last play of the game.  Falk’s conversion ended up giving Goulburn the lead and a gutsy 28-24 bonus point win.

Best and fairest players were Mik Webber (3), Boyd Newby (2), Abram Kara (1) and Adam Lachlan, with Kara also picking up Players Player.

Goulburn 28 (Greaves, Kara, Newby, Brims tries, Falk 4 conversions) bt Hall 24.

In reserve grade, last year’s grand final loss to hall was uppermost on the Goulburn players’ minds.

Hall crossed the line within the first five minutes of the, but Goulburn hit back quickly through a slick backline moved finished by Jordan Lees.

The game would continue as a see-saw affair, with each team taking advantage when they got into the opponent’s red zone.

Some hard forward running to begin the second half got Goulburn in front, and a 10 minute period attacking Hall’s line resulted in a try to Isaac Walker off a nice ball from the returning Dave Hook.

Goulburn held on from there to win 38-24 and remain undefeated for the year.

Best and fairest players were Jordan Lees (3), Ryan Upton (2) and Jay Butler (1) with Lees also picking up the Players Player award.

Goulburn 38 (Jordan Lees 2, Matt Bird, Jay Butler, Jason Granger, David Hook tries, Isaac Walker 3 conversions, Brandon Courts 1 conversion) bt Hall 29.

The Reds are unbeaten in both grades and remain on top of the tables.

The June long weekend off will see the club well represented at Monaro level, and the Reds will return home on the June 13 to play Cooma.