Roosters win fourth Foundation Cup
Sunday, 21 February 2010
Sydney Roosters beat the Wests Tigers 28-10 to claim their fourth consecutive Foundation Cup trophy at the Sydney Football Stadium tonight.
An inspired Roosters outfit including Todd Carney took the game in front of a crowd of 10,281.
The Roosters opened the scoring in the seventh minute when full-back Todd Carney converted a penalty goal from 22 metres out in front for a 2-0 lead.
A towering crossfield bomb on the last tackle by half-back Mitchell Pearce saw winger Sam Perrett outleap Wests Tigers winger Mitch Brown to knock the ball back into the arms of centre Shaun Kenny-Dowall to score. Carney converted the try from out wide for an 8-0 lead after 13 minutes.
Wests Tigers opened their account in the 23rd minute when the ball was spread right through Marshall and centre Chris Lawrence who sent unmarked winger Mitch Brown over in the corner for his first try for his new club after joining from Cronulla.
Marshall converted the try from the sideline for an 8-6 scoreline.
The Roosters were awarded a penalty five metres out from the Wests Tigers tryline after the referee ruled Liam Fulton had taken out Pearce late in a clearing kick.
This opportunity led to nothing after Nate Myles was penalised for pushing and throwing a punch at Alan Schirnack 20 metres out.
The Roosters were given a scrum feed 10 metres out in the 34th minute after a pass by winger Beau Ryan from a clearing kick to full-back Tim Moltzen saw the number one drop the ball.
The mistake was a costly one with Pearce offloading to second-rower Anthony Cherrington to push through Jason Cayless and Matt Hyland and Moltzen to score. Carney converted from next to the posts for a 14-6 lead after 37 minutes.
The Roosters went to an 18-6 lead when Pearce put Carney through a small gap to score next to the posts. Carney converted the try for a 20-6 lead after 47 minutes.
Sydney Roosters extended their lead when Carney made a break before flicking the ball back to his team-mates. The ball seemed to sit their for an eternity before Pearce picked it up, ran 20 metres before offloading a pass out wide for winger Sam Perrett to score. Carney converted the try for a 26-6 lead.
Wests Tigers got back to 26-10 when a pass from Lui drew in two defenders for Lawrence to score in the corner. Marshall failed to convert the try from the sideline in the 56th minute.
Some poor handling and an ordinary kicking game has let Wests Tigers down throughout the match against a Roosters side growing in confidence.
Wests Tigers prop Jason Cayless was placed on report by referee Gerard Sutton in the 63rd minute for a late hit on Carney after he kicked the ball. Carney converted the penalty attempt from 18 metres out to stretch the Roosters lead to 28-10.
Young guns Cheyse Blair, Brad Takairangi, Olireti Samuelu and Isaac Maliota all had some game time in the second half.
