Pirates steal second place with big win
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Saturday, 10 May 2008
NSWRU Media Unit
West Harbour has continued its amazing 2008 campaign with a 23-point victory lifting them to second place in the Tooheys New Shute Shield after seven rounds.
The Pirates celebrate with John Sinisa
Campese Ma'afu and James King celebrate John Sinisa's second try [2008 Tooheys New Shute Shield Round 7 - West Harbour v Northern Suburbs at Concord Oval]
Andrew Smith sets sail for the line
Andrew Smith sets sail for the line [2008 Tooheys New Shute Shield Round 7 - West Harbour v Northern Suburbs at Concord Oval]
Ed Jenkins cracks the Penrith defence
Ed Jenkins cracks the Penrith defence [2008 Tooheys New Shute Shield Round 7 - Sydney University v Penrith at University Oval No.1]
Penrith lock Liam Winton gets some close attention from Lachlan McCutcheon
Penrith lock Liam Winton gets some close attention from Lachlan McCutcheon [2008 Tooheys New Shute Shield Round 7 - Sydney University v Penrith at University Oval No.1]
Matt Hopper scores for Manly
Matt Hopper scores for Manly [2008 Tooheys New Shute Shield Round 7 - Manly v Eastern Suburbs at Manly Oval]
Easts lock Adam Byrnes looks for space
Easts lock Adam Byrnes looks for space [2008 Tooheys New Shute Shield Round 7 - Manly v Eastern Suburbs at Manly Oval]
Eastwood celebrate a match-winning lead
Eastwood celebrate a match-winning lead [2008 Tooheys New Shute Shield - Warringah v Eastwood at Pittwater Rugby Park]
A bloodied Ed Doyle on the attack
A bloodied Ed Doyle on the attack for Warringah [2008 Tooheys New Shute Shield - Warringah v Eastwood at Pittwater Rugby Park]
The Pirates weren't the only team to bring up 50 points, with Gordon and Sydney University also scoring half centuries in big wins.
Eastwood and Manly upset their more fancied opponents, while Parramatta will be ruing a missed opportunity in their draw with Randwick.
WEST HARBOUR V NORTHERN SUBURBS AT CONCORD OVAL
The lead changed six times in an exciting encounter that saw almost a point per minute, with West Harbour running over the top of Northern Suburbs 50-27 at Concord Oval.
The Pirates' three-quarter line scored six of their seven tries, with Nick Reily snaring a hat-trick and John Sinisa lifting his season tally to eight with a double.
Down by one point with 17 minutes remaining, West Harbour ran in 24 unanswered points to seal their fifth win of the season.
Todd Sly opened the scoring in the third minute with a penalty and Norths continued to dominate field position and possession.
Shortly after Chris Thomson was held up, Norths threw away all their good work when an errant pass landed the hands of Nick Reily who cantered away on a 65m run to the line and a 7-3 lead.
After missing a golden opportunity with the line seemingly open, it wasn't long before the Pirates went over for their second. Ben Martin putting Isaiah Pine through a gap with a great short pass, with the big No.8 floating a perfectly weighted ball to John Sinisa who strolled over for his seventh try of the season.
Martin's conversion hit the post and bounced away leaving Wests up 12-3 after 20 minutes.
Two minutes later Reily scored his second try when David Bond dropped the ball in a tackle near halfway. The Sevens specialist picked up the ball and ran 50m to score in the corner, Martin's sideline conversion giving the Pirates a 19-3 advantage.
The Pirates broke out again in the 25th minute, however a dropped pass cost Wests what would have been an early bonus point.
Back to back penalties allowed Norths back into the game in the 28th minute, with Al Manning driving over from a 5m lineout to take it to 19-8.
Wests continued to threaten however bad options and isolated players curbed their scoring potential.
Against the run of play Norths closed the gap in the shadows of halftime, when Corey Brown somehow leapt over Sinisa to gain a crossfield kick and scampered 20m to score. The Sly conversion saw Norths go to the break just four points down, 19-15.
Norths started the second half like they started the first, however this time they were rewarded with the first try.
Martin attempted to chip and chase from his own half, however the bounce sat up beautifully to Andrew Smith who streaked through the Wests defence for his sixth try for 2008. Sly's conversion strayed wide, leaving Norths with a 20-19 lead.
The yo-yoing continued just two minutes later when Wests capitalised on a failed clearance and Sinisa scored his second giving the Pirates a bonus point. Martin's conversion from wide out gave Wests a six point lead with 25 minutes remaining.
After being warned repeatedly, the Pirates infringed in their own red zone once too often and Mark Porpiglia was shown the yellow card. Sly had the opportunity to reduce the margin to three, however the relatively straightforward attempt hit the upright and allowed Wests to clear.
The Norths No.10 made up for his error when he was on the end of some rolling fifteen-man rugby to touch down 12m in from touch. Kicking duties shifted to Chris Burnett who also hit the upright, however this time it bounced through and Norths had also earned a bonus point but importantly held a one point lead in the 63rd minute, 27-26.
The lead changed for the sixth time only moments later when Norths turned over the ball 10m out, Wests shifted the ball to the left wing in two quick movements and Reily set sail on a 90m run to the line, a hat-trick and with Martin's conversion, a six-point lead.
When Porpiglia returned to the field with 12 minutes remaining, Wests had managed to maintain the same advantage they had when he left. Seconds later Lester Salanoa - lucky to be on the field after being penalised for a shoulder charge two minutes earlier - streaked through the Norths defence to score in the left corner.
Martin again converted from the sideline, then soon after kicked a 40m penalty for a 43-27 advantage.
Rory Sidey was denied by the television match official with five minutes remaining, however with Norths going all out after the siren, Wests toed ahead a stray pass with Dave Paurini on the end to score under the posts.
Martin's sixth conversion gave him a personal haul of 15 points and the Pirates a 50-27 victory.
West Harbour 50 (Nick Reily 3, John Sinisa 2, Lester Salanoa, Dave Paurini tries; Ben Martin 6 cons, pen) d Northern Suburbs 27 (Al Manning, Corey Brown, Andrew Smith, Todd Sly; Todd Sly con, pen, Chris Burnett con) at Concord Oval. Half-time: West Harbour 19-15. Referee: Daniel Cheever.
MANLY V EASTERN SUBURBS AT MANLY OVAL
After dropping their first five games of the year, Manly remained in the winning circle this week with a 25-18 victory over Eastern Suburbs at Manly Oval.
It was the Marlins' first 2008 home victory in five attempts and came on the back of a strong first half performance which saw three tries take them to a ten point lead.
Easts have now lost three of the last four games, while Manly are still well adrift of the top six despite back-to-back victories.
Manly 25 (Eddie Aholelei, Matt Hopper, Luke Johnson tries; Daniel Collins 2 cons, pen, Jarrod Murphy drop) d Eastern Suburbs 18 (Nathan Lowe, Lloyd Jones tries; Vitori Buatava 2 pens, con) at Concord Oval. Half-time: Manly 22-12. Referee: Grant MacNeill.
SOUTHERN DISTRICTS V GORDON AT FORSHAW PARK
Gordon scored 50 points for the second time this season in a 57-0 annihilation of Southern Districts at Forshaw Park.
Sisa Waqa scored three tries while Terry Preston grabbed a double in Gordon's ten tries to nil win, Dave Harvey collecting a personal haul of 12 to remain the competition's leading pointscorer with 82 points.
Southern Districts remain winless at home with their only 2008 victory a one-point win back in round two.
Gordon 57 (Sisa Waqa 3, Terry Preston 2, Nathan Nicol, Paulie Tuala, Dave Harvey, Sinclair Fischer-Grey, Mark Preston tries; Dave Harvey 2 cons, pen) d Southern Districts 0 at Forshaw Park. Half-time: Gordon 18-0. Referee: James Scholtens.
SYDNEY UNIVERSITY V PENRITH AT UNIVERSITY OVAL NO.1
Sydney University confirmed their status as the class side of the 2008 Tooheys New Shute Shield with a 57-0 victory over Penrith at University Oval No.1.
With Penrith having scored the sixth highest number of tries going into this clash, the Students' defence was always going to be wary of the Emus' attack but stayed resolute in keeping their first clean sheet for the season.
Mitch Inman scored two of his side's nine tries as they moved to 34 competition points and maintained an eight point advantage on top of the table.
Sydney University 57 (Mitch Inman 2, Nathan Charles, Laurie Weeks, Jono Jenkins, Tim Davidson, Ed Jenkins, Leo Afeaki, Lachlan Rosengreen tries; Daniel Halangahu 6 cons) d Penrith 0 at University Oval No.1. Half-time: Sydney University 26-0. Referee: James Pritchard.
WARRINGAH V EASTWOOD AT PITTWATER RUGBY PARK
Eastwood pulled off a stunning upset to down Warringah 48-32 at Pittwater Rugby Park today.
Going into the match sitting second on the ladder, Warringah were expected to have the edge on an underachieving Eastwood side which was languishing in eighth.
However the Woodies put two great halves of football together for the second time in as many weeks, turning a 24-12 half-time advantage into a commanding 48-32 victory.
Filipo Toala and Barney Wood each scored two tries for Eastwood, while Warringah's four tries were all scored by Andrew Wiles, the most tries scored by a player in this year's Tooheys New Shute Shield.
Eastwood 48 (Filipo Toala 2, Barney Wood 2, Josh Dunning, Phil Mathers, Simon Norris tries; Ben Batger 4 cons, pen) d Warringah 32 (Andrew Wiles 4 tries; Michael Ruthven 3 cons, 2 pens) at Pittwater Rugby Park. Half-time: Eastwood 24-12. Referee: Matt Goddard.
RANDWICK V PARRAMATTA AT COOGEE OVAL
Parramatta scored six tries to five but could still only manage a 36-all draw with Randwick at Coogee Oval.
After going down to West Harbour by just three points last week, Parramatta backed themselves against a talented Randwick line-up and went to the break locked at 19-all.
Nothing could separate the sides in the second half either, with Randwick wing David Batiratu and Two Blues lock Steve Mafi each scoring two tries.
Errant kicking by the Two Blues saw Randwick lucky to come away with a draw, however the tryscoring feats of both teams sees them each take three competition points away from the match.
Randwick 36 (David Batiratu 2, Matui Meile, Mark Johnson, Ben Mowen tries; Daniel Nethery 4 cons, Toby Browne pen) Parramatta 36 (Steve Mafi 2, Winney Paulo, Junior To'o, Josh Weeks, Dave Alo tries; Paula Kaveinga 2 cons, Josh Weeks con) at Coogee Oval. Half-time: 19-all. Referee: Nathan Pearce.