Western Suburbs’ first hit out of the year saw a 44-28 victory over Burwood-North Ryde United in a match which coach Leo Epifania described as a
‘definite trial game’ with plenty of handling errors on both sides.
The
match opened with both sides failing to complete their first two sets
before BNRU were awarded a penalty for holding down. BNRU's subsequent
failure to find touch proved costly, with a basic backline movement
resulting in a simple five on four overlap, with Jake Pearce on the end
of the move to touch down wide out.
Magpies halfback Jai Karam pushed the conversion attempt wide to leave the Magpies up 4-0 after nine minutes.
The
momentum in the match swung to Wests after Jake Pearce’s try, with
consecutive penalties putting the Magpies on the attack before a dropped
ball, one of many, stopped the flow.
Despite the halting of the
momentum, Wests found themselves back on the attack on 16 minutes, with
Leone Cama showing his opposite number a clean pair of heels with a
fantastic left foot step to score under the posts.
From a much simpler position, Jai Karam was successful with his conversion, which saw Wests move out to a 10-0 lead.
BNRU
had the last chance of the first quarter, but their bomb wide after the
siren found the touchline on the full, leaving the Magpies up 10-0 at
the first break.
The second quarter began with a Wests knock-on, compounded by a penalty which allowed BNRU to exert some early pressure.
After
some poor handling from both sides, BNRU found themselves in a
position to hoist a bomb to their right wing. A spectacular leap from
Jerome Mose went unrewarded as BNRU picked up the loose ball to score in
the north-eastern corner. A successful conversion saw BNRU claw back to
10-6 after 27 minutes.
Both sides looked to play some
enterprising football from this point and a long kick on the last from
Wests forced BNRU to return the ball from their own goal line, and
BNRU made a real mark with the kick return going all of 115 metres
for BNRU to touch down under the black dot. The simple conversion
allowed BNRU to move ahead 12-10.
Two minutes out from half time
and BNRU took advantage of some lazy marker defence with an inside
pass to score a simple try in a simple position, with the successful
conversion seeing BNRU go to half time ahead 18-10.
BNRU began
the second half with a knock-on from the kick-off and Wests made them
pay almost immediately. Some very sloppy defence on a very short blind
side left plenty of room for Magpie dynamo winger Amanono Tovio to scoot
in. Jai Karam missed an immensely difficult conversion attempt, leaving
BNRU 18-14 up three minutes into the second half.
Four minutes
later the Magpies were in again, a bustling run from five-eighth Nathan
Rumsby seeing five BNRU defenders hanging on as he touched down.
Leone Cama assumed the goalkicking duties with Jai Karam off the field,
and Cama slotted a simple goal, allowing Wests to move ahead 20-18.
Three
minutes later a cheeky little chip kick allowed Seffa Silafau to toe
the ball through, with Jake Pearce on hand to claim his second try of
the afternoon. Leone Cama added the extras from wide out to leave Wests
26-18 up after 51 minutes.
From there until three-quarter time,
Wests and Burwood went error for error, with the Magpies being guilty of
the most costly one, with a bouncing ball in-goal failing to be
grounded properly. The third quarter saw another shutout, with the
Magpies claiming the quarter 16-0 to be up 26-18 at the final break.
The
final quarter saw a high tackle penalty go the Magpies way after three
minutes, which backrower Kruse Robinson took advantage of, ploughing
through three defenders to fall over the line for a four pointer. Jai
Karam, returning to the field, guided his kick accurately through the
posts, the Magpies ahead 32-18.
On the third tackle after the
kick-off, Burwood conceded a penalty for holding down, and Wests took
full advantage with a Farah-Marshall-Moltzen style passing interchange
seeing fullback Brenton Cowan steaming on to the ball for a delightful
try. Leone Cama’s conversion attempt was successful, pushing Wests out
to a 38-18 lead with ten minutes to play.
A dropped ball
compounded by a penalty allowed Burwood some quality possession and a
right hand shift produced a try, although the conversion attempt swung
wide.
With Wests up 38-22, the Magpies sought to give the ball
some air and Burwood did well to knock down a pass to an unmarked centre
on the western side. However, from the ensuing scrum, a second man play
allowed Brenton Cowan to claim his second try of the afternoon. Leone
Cama added the extras for Wests to lead 44-22 with three minutes to go.
The
last three minutes saw plenty of lazy defence and loose passes, and it
was lazy defence which allowed BNRU to stroll over out wide after a
scrum win. A successful conversion after the full time siren left the
Magpies up 44-28 at full time.
Handling errors punctuated the
match on a very warm afternoon and coach Leo Epifania said that,
although the standard of play left much to be desired, the match was
very informative for him.
Wests could, however, take a major
positive out of the match, with the first and third quarters providing a
combined score of 26-0 to the Magpies.
The Magpies will take on Guildford next Sunday at Aubrey Keech Reserve, Hinchinbrook, with kick-off at 1-45pm.
WESTS
44 (Pearce 2, Cowan 2, Cama, Tovio, Robinson, Rumsby tries; Karam 2
from 4, Cama 4 from 4) def BUWOOD-NORTH RYDE UNITED 28.
Quartertime: Wests 10-0
Halftime: BNRU 18-10
Threequartertime: Wests 26-18
PLAYERS
USED: Brenton Cowan, Jerome Moser, Ratu Cuanilawa, Jake Pearce, Leone
Cama, Amanono Tovio, Nathan Rumsby, Jai Karam, Dean Rysko, Uati Isaako,
Kruse Robinson, Mason Harrison, Adrian Vengan, Jame Anyszkiewics, Levi
Tupu, Richard Ene, Matt Jones, Mohamed Mahfoud, Rhys Norman, Rolland
Gloss, Tom Morrison, Paula Fangaloka, Seffa Silafau.
OAMPS Pre-season Cup Results Round 2
11/03/2013 8:44:19 AM
With Round one lost to the horrible weather conditions Sydney
experienced a fortnight ago, Round two of the OAMPS Preseason Cup
kick-off over the weekend with a number of interesting results in the
True Blues Chemicals Sydney Shield and Ron Massey Cup.
Perhaps the
most interesting of the Round is the 22-all draw between arch rivals
Cabramatta and Mounties as well as defending champs, Windsor’s 38-22 win
over The Entrance Tigers.
Results from Round 2 of the OAMPS Preseason Cup for Ron Massey Cup
Western Suburbs Magpies 46 def. Burwood Nth Ryde 28
Auburn Warriors 38 def. Wentworthville Magpies 36
Kingsgrove Colts 32 def. Blacktown Workers 18
Asquith Magpies 42 def. Guldford Owls 18
Windsor Wolves 38 def. The Entrance Tigers 22
Cabramatta 22 drew with Mounties 22
Results from Round 2 of the OAMPS Preseason Cup for True Blue Chemicals Sydney Shield
Wentworthville Magpies 32 def. Auburn Warriors 18
Blacktown Workers 18 def. Kingsgrove Colts 12
Guildford Owls 54 def. Asquith magpies 10
Hills District Bulls 34 def. Belrose Eagles 10
Mounties 58 def. Cabramatta 6
