In the Central Coast Rugby Union Round 17 Match of the Day played on Saturday, August 16, Terrigal defeated Ourimbah by 45 points to 21 Ourimbah Rugby Park.
In what was Ourimbah’s first defeat since early in the season, the Terrigal team played committed rugby for the entire 80 minutes and deserved the win. Ourimbah started the match well and dominated the early stages territorially.
They played good rugby but were not able to place any points on the scoreboard.
It was Terrigal who were to respond after this early home team attack. It was Terrigal who crossed for two early tries to take the early lead.
Ourimbah did reply with a penalty goal and at the midway point of the first half, Terrigal led by 14 points to three.
It was then that the rain started to fall and the conditions were going to make the remainder of the match a real war of attrition.
The rest of the first half was quite even and Ourimbah were able to lessen the Terrigal lead little.
Both teams crossed for a try in that period, so Terrigal went to the half time break leading by 21 points to 14 and the match was up for grabs.
Terrigal had several good players in the first half.
The best were flanker Aaron Carrig who played strongly all game.
He was well supported by winger Daniel Sergeant, who scored two tries in the match, and fellow backs Tom Lowe and Adam Danckert.
Danckert had another point scoring spree and tallied 25 points in the match with eight goals and a try to his credit.
Ourimbah had several good players.
Once again lock Tyler Jones played extremely well.
Others to perform were centres David Laidlaw and Brenton Law.
Most people would have expected the second half to be a real arm wrestle and the scores remain close, however, it was Terrigal who dominated the second half on the scoreboard and in the final 40 minutes were able to post a further 24 points.
Ourimbah were only able to respond with seven points in that same period.
The five tries to three win by Terrigal certainly makes the approaching Finals Series an interesting one.
The win also places Terrigal one point clear of Avoca Beach in second spot on the competition ladder with one match to go.
Gosford played good rugby to defeat The Entrance by 33 points to 14 at Joseph Banks Oval.
Gosford started the match strongly and controlled things on the scoreboard early on.
They scored all the early points and led by 27 points to nil early in the second half.
Gosford had the game well and truly secure before The Entrance responded with two late converted tries to reduce the final score to 33-14.
Best players for Gosford were flanker Andrew Moseley, backs David Von Kotze and Tim Hill, while veterans Steve Lauti and Unoi Vaenuku were strong in the forwards.
Avoca Beach stormed home to convincingly defeat Kariong by 66 points to nil at Heazlett Park.
They were in total control from start to finish, and besides finishing with a total of 10 tries to their credit, they were able to keep Kariong scoreless in the match.
It was a most convincing performance by Avoca Beach.
Best for the home team were back James Latham, who crossed for three tries, prop Luke Sheridan and five-eight Mitch Graham.
Flanker Gus Long never stopped trying for Kariong in what was a tough afternoon for the visitors.
Despite the win Avoca Beach remain in third spot due to Terrigal defeating Ourimbah in the Match of the Day.
Media release,
17 Aug 2014
Larry Thomson, Central
Coast Rugby Union