A tie between second and third placed Avoca Beach and the Razorbacks in Round 8 of the Central Coast Rugby competition on June 3 saw Terrigal increase its lead to lead the Premier 1 points table by a margin of five points.
Match of the Day at Ourimbah Rugby Park saw Avoca Beach and the Razorbacks play out a 20-all draw.
The first half was an even tussle with the teams basically going point for point for most of the contest.
Avoca Beach led by 14-10 at the half-time break but it wasn’t long before the match was squared up at 17-all midway through the second half and only a penalty goal to each team later in the half saw the final score locked at 20 points apiece.
Best players for the Razorbacks were flankers Matt Martin and James Blanch, prop Jordan Clark and hooker Jade Strongman, while best performers for Avoca Beach were prop Matt Ritchie, lock Joel Delaney, centre Alex Halls and flanker Fionn Henderson-Foley.
Warnervale met Gosford at Gosford Rugby Field in another a cliffhanger, with Gosford holding on to win by 24-19.
Gosford got away to the better start with an opening converted try but Warnervale soon hit back to square the match at seven points apiece.
Gosford surged ahead with a further try and two long-range penalty goals to Ben Shelley, going into half-time with an 18-7 lead.
The first 20 minutes of the second half saw plenty of chances to post points but none were secured until about midway through the half when Warnervale got right back in the match with a converted try to make the score 18-14.
But Gosford scored another two penalty goals to lead 24-14.
A late try to Warnervale reduced the gap on the scoreboard but it was all too late in terms of getting the win.
Best players for Gosford were halfback Ben Shelley, hooker Joel Wagner, centre Michael Jones and lock Taylor Mildren.
Warnervale was best served by flanker Dean Crofskey, lock Ben Austine and centre Alfred Brown.
Hornsby hosted Terrigal at Mark Taylor Oval, with Terrigal securing a 48-3 victory.
Hornsby kicked the opening penalty goal to lead 3-0 but that was the only time in the match that they were to score.
It was from this point that Terrigal gradually asserted control on the match, going into half-time with a 15-3 lead.
The second half saw Terrigal post a further 33 points to secure a most convincing win for the undefeated Terrigal team.
Best players for Terrigal were prop Antonio Cunha, lock Isaac Riviere and flanker Josh Moorhouse.
Hornsby’s best players were lock Dominic Cole, hooker Jackson Cole and No.8 Hamish Perring.
The Lakes ticked up their second win of the season with a 68-12 victory over Lake Macquarie at Slade Park.
The Lakes got away to a quick start and had soon jumped to a 14-0 lead.
Lake Macquarie crossed for a try midway through the first half but The Lakes maintained control and went to the half-time break leading 28- 12.
They posted a further 40 points in the second stanza.
Best players for The Lakes were five-eight Sione Vaenuku, flanker Paul Wilson, hooker Connor Starkey and No.8 Geoff Hiku, while Lake Macquarie was best served by centre Sekove Tamanivalu, prop Matt Bartley and five-eight Franco Quinones.
The Premier 1 points table sees Terrigal leading with 35, followed by Avoca Beach on 30, the Razorbacks on 26, Warnervale on 20, Gosford on 19, The Lakes on 12, Hornsby on 9 and Woy Woy on 7.
Women’s 10s matches saw victories for Avoca Beach, Terrigal and The Lakes.
There will be no local rugby on June 10, with three Coast teams travelling to Tamworth to compete in the NSW Country Rugby Championships over the long weekend.
The Men’s 1st XV, the Colts XV, and the Women’s 15s will travel set out for Tamworth on Friday, June 9, to compete against all the other zone teams from across NSW Country.
The three teams have been training for several months in the lead-up up to the championships and will be hoping to bring honours back to the Central Coast.
The Men’s 1st XV will again be coached by Craig McWilliam and is hoping to repeat the Caldwell Cup victory they achieved last year, when they defeated Central West in the final.
The Womens XV will be coached this year by Anthony Ericksson, competing for the Thomson Cup, and they will be playing 15s rugby.
The team has spent much time working on its 15s skills as the local Central Coast Women’s competition is a 10-a-side competition.
The Colts team will be coached once again by Nick Meyer, with high hopes of a win after being runners-up last year.
Source:
Central Coast Rugby