Hooper hatrick sinks Students

A hat trick from Manly winger Richard Hooper has helped the Marlins come from behind to seal a 37-25 away win over Sydney University and leapfrog the Students into second place on the Shute Shield ladder.

 

In scintillating form throughout, Hooper is one of the form wingers in the competition as his third try proved. Proving his pace with a blazing run down the sideline, the winger showed his footwork, wrong footing two University defenders to wrap up his hat trick.

 

The Marlins showed great determination to pick up the win after trailing the Students for the majority of the match.  "It's the best we've played all year but its only 60% of what we are capable of," said Manly coach Tim Lane after the match.

 

In other round 14 matches, table toppers Eastwood snuck a 27-20 victory over Southern Districts at Forshaw Rugby Park while West Harbour picked up a victory in a 27-26 thriller over Gordon at Concord Oval.

 

Randwick piled on the points against Penrith picking up a 44-14 point win at Nepean Rugby park while Warringah came from behind to defeat Parramatta 45-37 at Pittwater Rugby Park. Northern Suburbs have continued their good run of form by defeating Eastern Suburbs 38-20 at North Sydney Oval.

 

Manly 37 (3 Richard Hooper, 2 James Hilterbrand, Elvis Taione tries; Scott Daruda 2 cons, pen) d Sydney University 25 (Liam Winton, Tim Davidson, James McMahon tries; Daniel Kelly 2 cons, pen, Bernard Foley pen)

 

A hat trick to winger Richard Hooper and a double to prop James Hilterbrand helped Manly upset Sydney University, overturning the Students' lead to move above them in the Shute Shield table. 

 

The Students got out to an early lead with tries to flanker Tim Davidson and centre James McMahon, with the Marlins only managing a penalty goal through flyhalf Scott Daruda.

 

Sydney University flyhalf Dan Kelly slotted a penalty to extend the Students' lead to 17 points but, spurred in action, the Marlins eventually turned up the heat, running in a fantastic team try, finished off by Hooper.

 

Hooper's second try put the Marlins back into the game at 17-13 but with flanker Kotoni Ale shown the yellow card soon after, University lock Liam Winton took advantage, running in a try soon after to extend the Students' lead.  Manly prop Elvis Taione crashed over just before half time to put his team within two at the break, before a ripping try from Hooper in the second half finally put Manly ahead. 

 

With their noses in front, the Marlins didn't take their foot off the throttle putting on constant attacking pressure in the second half. Their pressure paid off when prop James Hilterbrand grabbed a pair of tries on the back of some great work from the Marlins' forward pack, wrapping up the 37-25 bonus point win at University Oval No.1.

 

Eastwood 27 (Gareth Palamo, Michael McDougall, Jimmy Hilgendorf tries; Ben Batger 3 cons, 2 pens) d Southern Districts 20 (Rohan Saifolio, Ben Conolly, Apo Latunipulu tries; Rohan Saifoloi  con, pen)

 

Eastwood have picked up a hard-fought victory against Southern Districts at Forshaw Rugby Park.  Made to fight for it all the way, a try to flanker Gareth Palamo looked to have sealed the match for the Woodies, until Souths' winger Ben Connolly got a try which kept Eastwood on their toes until the final whistle. The Rebels couldn't manage to avenge their round 11 loss to Eastwood and will look towards next week when they play Eastern Suburbs.

 

Randwick 44 (3 Apaola Tea, Peter Samu, Terrence Hepetema, Tim Wright tries; Toby Browne 4 cons, 2 pens) d Penrith 14 (Paula Katoa, Solomona Silipa tries; Fred Tuua con, Lelea Paea con)

 

A hat trick to winger Apaola Tea helped Randwick pick up a comprehensive bonus point victory over Penrith at Nepean Rugby Park. The Wicks bounced back from last week's loss to Parramatta by piling on the points against Penrith. The win for Randwick moves them off the bottom of the Shute Shield ladder and will give them some confidence as they move towards the end of the season.

 

Warringah 45 (2 Edward Doyle, 2 David Feltscheer, Michael Dalton, Hugh Pyle tries; Hamish Angus 6 cons, pen) d Parramatta 37 (2 Dan Yakopo, Takamua, Adam Coleman, Nick Blacklock tries; Tom Woods 3 cons, 2 pens)

 

Warringah have fought back from a 10-point halftime deficit to record an inspirational 45-37 home win over Parramatta. Two tries each to Edward Doyle and David Feltscheer helped secure the victory that keeps the Rats in the hunt for eighth position and a finals spot. The loss for Parramatta sees them slip down into sixth position on the Shute Shield ladder

 

West Harbour 27 (Sione Tau, Barton Jones, Tito Mua tries; Henry Seavula 3 cons, 2 pens) d Gordon 26 (Mitch Greenway, Mark Johnson, Tom Hill tries; Chris Burnett con, 3 pens)

 

West Harbour No.8 Sione Tau crossed the line in the closing minutes to seal a thrilling 27-26 point victory over Gordon at Concord Oval. The Pirates showed true grit to come back from an eight-point second half deficit to pick up the victory that sees them hold on to eighth position and hang on to the last finals spot.

 

Northern Suburbs 38 (2 Samu Wara, Corey Brown, Chris Tuatara, Mitch Walton tries; Dave Harvey 5 cons, pen) d Eastern Suburbs 20 (Pat O'Connor, Nathan Paila, Elijah Miko tries; Brendan McKibbin con, pen)

 

A pair of tries to winger Samu Wara helped Northern Suburbs pick up a great bonus victory over Eastern Suburbs at North Sydney Oval.  The win sees the Shoremen jump into fifth position on the Shute Shield ladder whilst the loss for Eastern Suburbs sees them slip to seventh position overall.

 

 

Team		P	W	D	L	F	A	Df	BP 4t	BP <7p	BP	Pts
	Eastwood	14	12	0	2	473	294	179	9	1	10	58
	Manly	14	12	0	2	372	287	85	7	1	8	56
	Sydney University	14	10	0	4	447	261	186	9	3	12	52
	Southern Districts	14	8	0	6	445	331	114	8	6	14	46
	Northern Suburbs	14	8	0	6	305	267	38	4	3	7	39
	Parramatta	14	7	0	7	355	378	-23	7	3	10	38
	Eastern Suburbs	14	7	0	7	339	381	-42	5	2	7	35
	West Harbour	14	6	0	8	358	468	-110	5	2	7	31
	Warringah	14	5	0	9	323	345	-22	5	3	8	28
	Gordon	14	3	0	11	278	380	-102	4	5	9	21
	Randwick	14	3	0	11	301	415	-114	5	4	9	21
	Penrith	14	3	0	11	251	440	-189	4	3	7	19
P=Played   W=Wins   D=Draws   L=Losses   F=Points For   A=Points Against   Df=Points Difference   BP 4t=Four Tries   BP <7p=Close Losses   BP=Total Bonus Points   Pts=Ladder Points