The Central Coast Rugby Union round 14 Match of the Day at the Haven Oval on Saturday, July 19, saw Terrigal cement their second spot on the competition ladder when they defeated Gosford by 25 points to eight.
Central Coast Rugby Union competition president Mr Larry Thomson said in what was a quite entertaining match, played in very cold and windy conditions, the standard of play overcame the conditions to result in a very good game of rugby for the large number of spectators present. Terrigal started the match with the strong breeze behind them, however despite this, it was Gosford who had the better of the opening minutes, going close to scoring on a couple of occasions. A driving maul just fell short of the line and it was the good Terrigal defence that kept them out. However a long range breakout saw Terrigal almost score at the other end of the field after a 90 metre dash. A covering tackle stopped the try, metres from the line. It was then that Terrigal took control for quite a period.
They exerted pressure, and this attack was rewarded with a penalty goal that saw them take the early lead of three points to nil at the 20 minute mark of the first half. It was a see-sawing match with both teams putting on a good display of rugby. Terrigal went further ahead at the 32nd minute of the first half when hooker Daniel Hilton crossed for a try. This resulted from a Terrigal forward surge that saw the hooker reap the reward for his team.
Terrigal had gone to a very handy lead of eight points to nil, but they knew that they had a strong wind behind them and needed the lead. Both teams kicked a penalty goal each in the fi nal 10 minutes of this half, so Terrigal went to the halftime break leading by13 points to three. “It was a lead, but many may have felt that was insufficient considering Gosford had the use of a very handy wind in the second half,” said Thomson. Gosford started well in the second half and used the conditions effectively early on. They were rewarded with a try to flanker Hugo Pike. This try reduced the Terrigal lead to 13 points to eight and the tussle was on.
However after a while it was Terrigal who began to play the more effective rugby at the start of the second half. Running into the breeze did not worry them and they increased their lead with a try soon after. Centre Mitchell Hirst crossed in the corner for a good try that made the score 18-8. This score line remained the same for much of the second half. Gosford tried to reduce the difference and run the ball on numerous occasions, when perhaps, they would have been better off to kick to the corners. It was Terrigal who secured the win in the last quarter of the match when fullback Adam Danckert scored a good try after a 30 metre dash. The conversion of his own try had placed Terrigal into a match winning lead of 25 points to eight. Terrigal maintained that score for the remainder of the match.
Both teams played well but the three tries to one effort by Terrigal was a good indication of the flow of the match. “Best players for Terrigal were fullback Adam Danckert, prop Nathan Simpson and lock Ryan Metcalfe,” said Thomson. “Gosford had several good players but none were better than flanker Hugo Pike and fullback Dave Von Kotze. “Terrigal are now well placed in the finals race while Gosford probably do have to win all their remaining matches if they are to make the Top Four,” he said.
Avoca Beach returned to the winner’s circle with vengeance with a huge 109 points to seven win over Northlakes at Slade Park. Avoca Beach ran in 17 tries and the result was obviously never in doubt from the opening whistle. “It was an excellent team performance with 12 of the team members scoring tries,” said Thomson. “The win by Avoca Beach shows that despite what has happened in recent weeks, they cannot be discounted in terms of Premiership honors this year. “They are currently sitting in third spot with a game in hand. “Best players for Avoca Beach were Josh Meadham, Chad Martin and Paul Farah, while the best player for Northlakes was Tyson Boyes.”
Email, 20 Jul 2014
Larry Thomson, Central
Coast Rugby Union