A curtain raiser of a different kind for Round 18 atParramatta Stadium as the Pirtek Parramatta Eels’ feeder club Wentworthville faced off against NSW Cup leaders, Balmain-Ryde.
Both teams showed great attacking finesse, but it was Balmain-Ryde who finished the better of the two, running in six tries to four.
Wentworthville started off strongly and had many opportunities to post points early, but soft penalties in defence against the Magpies had them back pedaling.
Balmain took full advantage of their rewards, all the way to the other end of the field where they got the point scoring underway.
Magpies Fullback’ Dominic Nasso spilt the ball while retrieving a kick return close to his posts. Fortunately for Balmain, the ball smoothly bounced in the chasers hands, Mathew Ryan crossing for a comfortable four pointer.
Despite great defensive efforts from Wentworthville, competition front runners Balmain were too good running in three tries in quick succession.
First, Darren McNichols scored in an unusual fashion - crawling over the line - when several defenders dropped off him. Then a double to Balmains’ fullback Sean Meaney – his first from a speculative pass then a second coming from a set piece, taking the halftime score out to 24-0.
The second half started in similar fashion to the first for Wenty, however this time they managed to spread it through the hands with Dominic Nasso scoring the first for the Magpies.
Things seemed to get better for Wenty as they rolled forward with ease now and with their momentum, created further opportunities. Then, George Taufoa finished off a well executed backline movement in the corner, edging the margin closer with 25 minutes remaining.
However, Balmain’s Gavin Cowan made it more difficult for Wentworthville, adding an extra try with twenty minutes to go and pushing the scores further out to 30-12.
But, the Magpies never gave up. They were awarded a 6 point penalty try when Dominic Nasso had been taken out by his opposite whilst contesting for the ball in goal.
With ten minutes to go, both sides posted additional points - first Balmain through a Sean Meaney break with Sami Latu finishing it off. Then Wentworth finished the match off with one of their as Etu Uaisele barged his way over close to the line, bringing the end result 36-24 in favour of Balmain.
Wentworthville Magpies 24 (Tries: Dominic Nasso 2, George Taufoa, Etu Uaisele Goals: Greyson Goodwin 4/4)
Defeated by
Balmain-Ryde (Tries: Sean Meaney 2, Mathew Ryan, Darren McNichols, Gavin Cowan, Sami Latu Goals: Sean Meaney 6/6)
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