Southern Districts have won their ninth straight match and opened up a ten-point advantage at the top of the Tooheys New Shute Shield table with a 43-34 victory over Northern Suburbs.
In a rain-affected round which saw three matches postponed, West Harbour moved into the top six with a big victory over Parramatta while Eastwood scored seven tries to two in an emphatic win over Randwick.
Tooheys New Shute Shield – Round 9 Scores
Southern Districts 43 d Northern Suburbs 34 at North Sydney Oval
West Harbour 73 d Parramatta 15 at Concord Oval
Eastwood 49 d Randwick 14 at T.G. Millner Field
POSTPONED – Gordon v Penrith
POSTPONED – Manly v Sydney University
POSTPONED – Warringah v Eastern Suburbs
Northern Suburbs v Southern Districts at North Sydney Oval
Southern Districts suffered a scare from Northern Suburbs but maintained their undefeated start to the season with a 43-34 victory at North Sydney Oval.
The Shoremen went to the half-time break with a narrow lead, however the Rebels piled on the points in the third quarter to establish a match-winning advantage.
Signs looked ominous for Norths early on when Sitaleki Timani went over in just the fourth minute but the Shoremen hit back through a penalty to Ben Murray followed by a 16th minute converted try to James Lew.
The Souths scrum laid the platform for the Rebels second try, driving the Norths pack more than five metres before No.8 Ita Vaea picked up from the back and scored.
Nathan Sievert’s conversion took the Rebels to a 12-10 advantage, however Chris Moore intercepted near halfway soon after and streaked away to score.
Norths’ No.9 Steve Evans dived over from close range in the 34th minute to take the Shoremen out to an eight point advantage, however John Ulugia made a break from close range three minutes later and offloaded to Sievert to score. The Rebels scrumhalf converted his own try to reduce the hosts’ half-time lead to 20-19.
With Souths advancing on the Norths line early in the second half, Evans suffered a sickening head clash with one of his own men, with the match stopped for around ten minutes.
After he was taken from the field, Souths put the pressure on again and when the Norths’ scrum crumbled, Steve Walsh awarded a penalty try.
The Rebels broke out from the kick-off and after earning a close-range lineout, the forwards drove on with Ulugia the player who ploughed over. Sievert’s conversion took the score to 33-19
Norths would not go away however, and after dominating territory before turning it over, a counterattack by Cam Crawford led to Lew scoring his second. Murray converted to close the margin to six.
The hosts conceded a penalty from the ensuing kick-off, and soon after Josh Gamgee put Sisa Waqa over for Souths’ sixth try.
A penalty to Sievert took Souths’ lead to more than two converted tries with ten minutes to go, however the Shoremen did not give up with Cam Crawford scoring the fifth try in the 76th minute.
Southern Districts 43 (Sitaleki Timani, Ita Vaea, Nathan Sievert, John Ulugia, Sisa Waqa tries; Penalty try; Nathan Sievert 5 cons, pen) d Northern Suburbs 34 (James Lew 2, Chris Moore, Steve Evans, Cam Crawford tries; Ben Murray 2 cons, pen, Pete Smith con) at North Sydney Oval. HT: Northern Suburbs 20-19. Referee: Steve Walsh.
Eastwood v Randwick at T.G. Millner Field
Eastwood has moved to second place on the Tooheys New Shute Shield ladder with a 49-14 victory over Randwick at T.G. Millner Field.
The Woodies romped to a 39-0 lead at half-time which was always going to be too much for Randwick to reel in. The Galloping Greens outscored the home side in the second forty, however the match was already over with Eastwood registering their third bonus point win in as many weeks.
Nathan Brecht ran in a double for the Woodies while Ben Batger contributed 19 points from a try, four conversions and two penalties.
Eastwood 49 (Nathan Brecht 2, Hugh Perrett, Dave Rimmer, Luke Brecht, John Grant, Ben Batger tries; Ben Batger 4 cons, 2 pens) d Randwick 14 (Paul Hannify, Dane Inman tries; Danny Kroll 2 cons) at T.G. Millner Field. HT: Eastwood 39-0. Referee: Stuart Dickinson.
West Harbour v Parramatta at Concord Oval
West Harbour has taken a step forward in their quest to return to the Tooheys New Shute Shield semi-finals with a 73-15 victory over Parramatta at Concord Oval.
The win lifts the Pirates into the top six for the first time this season, and while six teams are still to play their round nine fixtures, those results will not affect Wests’ position on the table.
The hosts ran in eleven tries to two, with Lester Salanoa, Sione Tau, Henry Seavula and Jeremy Su’a each grabbing doubles. Nick Reily continued his impressive year with the boot nailing nine conversions for an 18-point haul.
West Harbour 73 (Lester Salanoa 2, Sione Tau 2, Jeremy Su’a 2, Henry Seavula 2, Rory Sidey, Sam Wykes, Jai Ayoub tries; Nick Reily 9 cons) d Parramatta 15 (Junior Toa, Jesse Leota tries; Tom Woods con, pen) at Concord Oval. HT: West Harbour 47-13. Referee: Steve Hardy.
|
Team
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
Df
|
BP 4t
|
BP <7p
|
BP
|
Pts
|
|
Southern Districts
|
9
|
9
|
0
|
0
|
365
|
183
|
182
|
8
|
0
|
8
|
44
|
|
Eastwood
|
9
|
7
|
0
|
2
|
286
|
223
|
63
|
6
|
0
|
6
|
34
|
|
Manly
|
8
|
6
|
0
|
2
|
361
|
122
|
239
|
6
|
2
|
8
|
32
|
|
Randwick
|
9
|
5
|
0
|
4
|
301
|
209
|
92
|
6
|
0
|
6
|
26
|
|
Eastern Suburbs
|
8
|
5
|
0
|
3
|
312
|
196
|
116
|
4
|
0
|
4
|
24
|
|
West Harbour
|
9
|
4
|
0
|
5
|
272
|
243
|
29
|
5
|
2
|
7
|
23
|
|
Northern Suburbs
|
9
|
4
|
1
|
4
|
223
|
225
|
-2
|
4
|
0
|
4
|
22
|
|
Sydney University
|
8
|
3
|
0
|
5
|
169
|
143
|
26
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
16
|
|
Penrith
|
8
|
3
|
0
|
5
|
167
|
265
|
-98
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
15
|
|
Warringah
|
8
|
2
|
1
|
5
|
154
|
208
|
-54
|
2
|
2
|
4
|
14
|
|
Gordon
|
8
|
1
|
2
|
5
|
122
|
187
|
-65
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
9
|
|
Parramatta
|
9
|
0
|
0
|
9
|
65
|
593
|
-528
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
1
|