Knock-on Effect NSW Cup - Eels Team

[Forty20]

Penalty now to Mountie as Wenty had offside chasers from Henry's attacking bomb. The mark is given on the Mounties' 20m line and bizarrely they take a tap restart.

There is a crunching hit from Matterson down our left edge and it is a good defensive set on the whole again for Wenty.

Lavaka is perfectly positioned for the clearing kick on the last and Wenty then get a penalty for offside defenders on the next tackle.

Goodall and Kassis get first uses of the pill this set. Taunaola Kei is up next before #20 for Wenty has a run towards the sticks, Chris Raketi I think is his name.

Henry kicks towards Faraimo on the last and Bureta does pretty well to spoil the take for the Mounties' winger and get a line drop out.

Lavaka fields the drop out and has a run. Wenty immediately work towards their right edge where they have a great chance to play out the back but Henry chooses to play flat to Nelson who I don't think was expecting it and he drops the pill.

Hang on what has happened here?

Lavaka has taken an intercept out of nowhere, he beats the first man and offloads to Goodall who surges to the try line, he beats the first cover defender but loses his footing and although he scrambles back to his feet but a second defender gets him.

Matterson gets the ball on the next play and tries to push the ball out to the right where we have numbers but is taken some rushing defenders - no penalty comes though. Taunaola Kei gets a crash ball from dummy half to allow Matterson to reset and on the next play Wenty make their move. Matterson plays to Henry who gets the ball out to Toutai who plays the overlap perfectly and puts Faraimo over! Great work from Wenty!

The conversion is unsuccessful.

Wenty lead 6-0.

38min gone.

 

[Forty20]

Very nearly a great set after points there. Wenty kept it simple, rolling the ball over halfway before Madden jumped out of dummy half to kick in behind up the middle but the ball barely rolls over the dead ball line.

Seven tackles for Mounties and they march downfield as you tend to see with these sets. Wenty defend well though up until the last tackle where the visitors are able to create an overlap down our left edge to cross in the corner as the siren rings out. Disappointing way to finish an otherwise outstanding half for Wenty.

The conversion is unsuccessful.

Half Time

Wenty 6 lead Mounties 4.

 

[Forty20]

Wenty to kick off via Beau Henry.

Mounties play it down our right edge early on but willing defence from Wenty contain them well. They kick from well in their own half and find grass but Butler-Fleming ropes it in eventually.

Faraimo comes in to take a carry but two tackles later Taunaola Kei has come up with an error in the tackle...pressure on Wenty now.

Great tackle from Matterson midway through this set, hammered the short ball option. Mounties recover and play down their left edge but Wenty hold them out to bring up the last.

They kick towards out left edge but Goodall takes it easily in goals for a 20m restart and then is hit well after the take! Badger looks on and simply signals a 20m restart.

Goodall picks himself out and races out to get a strong start to the set.

Nothing really opens up for Wenty further in the set though and they kick into a corner to complete the set.

Unfortunately they concede a penalty for hands around the head early in the count and gift Mounties territory. A booming touch finder carried by a favourable wind takes Mounties well into our half but they come up with an error early on!

 

[Forty20]

Oh my, another near moment of madness from Faraimo! Eerily similar to last week where the Bears scored off an offload he forced on our goal line but this time Butler-Fleming does very well to clean his wayward second phase ball up.

Matterson earns a penalty for getting held down and Wenty get a much needed hand downfield. A nice littler interchange between Butler-Fleming and Faraimo gets Bureta into a half break but he is quickly pulled down. Henry bombs it on the last and Kassis does very well to recover from getting run off the ball to make the kick chase tackle before there is seemingly an error from Mounties. Badger calls it as such before there is a very late call from a touchy for a penalty for Mounties.

 

[Forty20]

Mounties go down field and get a second set after a pass grazes a Wenty hand and rolls into touch down our right edge.

They immediately attack our left edge where Lavaka puts on a great shot to kill the sweep. Mounties centre the ball next tackle and then have another crack out our left, this time with a short ball to their #11 and some desperate defence from Matterson, Goodall and Kassis barely repel him!

Having spent all those resources on our left edge, Mounties then work it to our right and find the repeat set and Faraimo catches a contested bomb and is tackled in goals.

Despite the weight of possession though, Mounties can't crack Wenty as from the drop out set Lavaka makes another great tackle and forces the ball loose!

 

[Forty20]

Oh I have run my mouth too soon. I have no idea what has happened but Mounties have come away with the ball from our scrum and have scored immediately from it. No one in the crowd is really sure what happened either and even Badger has to wait and consult her touchies to confirm exactly what happened. In the end they are happy to award the try, in somewhat mysterious circumstances.

The conversion is good.

Mounties hit the lead 10-6

55min gone.

 

[Forty20]

Mounties threaten to make it back-to-back tries after busting through our line from a decidedly forwards offload. Wenty maintain their poise though to bring the runner down and Goodall then forces the error from the next play.

Scratch that though, Mounties do manage to score but it is against the run of play in the next set. Wenty create the overlap with the fullback sweep down our left as Matterson finds Butler-Fleming but as Fleming looks to cut out Goodall to hit Lavaka the ball gets batted up by the Mounties' winger, Brenko Lee I think, who recovers it and races downfield. Matterson gives desperate pursuit but hasn't got the legs and all of a sudden Mounties have usurped all the momentum in the game from Wenty.

The conversion is successful.

Mounties 16 lead Wenty 6.

58min gone.

 

[Forty20]

Wenty hold the visitors to their kick this time around and Faraimo gets the kick return. Henry spreads it Moses Manu but the tide of possession continues to turn against Wenty as Manu's offload is intercepted by Mounties. Geez we are cruelling our chances at the moment.

Mounties complete their set with a grubber towards our sticks that sees us having to play at it and getting caught in goals for a drop out.

And now the game begins to run away from Wenty as Mounties breach our left edge. Looked to be an overlap but also a miscommunication between Goodall and Lavaka and Halauafu raced up to create an opening for a short ball between himself and Goodall.

It has been a heroic effort from Wenty up until this point considering the personnel on hand but Mounties are coming home with a wet sail.

The conversion is unsuccessful.

Mounties extend their lead to 20-6

63min gone.

 

[Forty20]

Mounties pick up another penalty now. Another chance to attack.

They don't take long to cross again now, back has been completely it looks like. Sam Gorman was the culprit there, just a clean missed tackle down the fringe area of the ruck and our left edge. The runner brushed past him and then Butler-Fleming to score.

The conversion is unsuccessful.

Mounties lead Wenty 24-6

65min gone.

 

[Forty20]

Time off now as Goodall has stayed down on the right edge, seems to have swapped with Toutai. Doesn't seem to be grasping at an injury so he must have copped a knock to his head and indeed he is alright and play resumes.

Mounties complete their set by kicking in behind our left edge and Wenty regain possession. Ordinary set though when all is said and done, shades of desperation creeping in as we chase points and we run it down our right on the last and Faraimo is forced to kick it ahead.

 

[Forty20]

And again, the tendrils of desperation have taken grasp as in our next set where we posted on our goal line, Henry throws a long cutout pass to Goodall - the very definition of a hospital pass - and he takes it and gets positively hammered and driven back in goals.

Wenty look for a quick short drop out but Mounties get the ball and get a chance to attack our exposed left edge immediately as a result. We have about 3 cover defenders pushing across to try and stop their winger as he blitzes for the try line and I am certain that he got driven into touch but the touchy has seen other wise and green lights the try!

The conversion is unsuccessful.

Mounties lead 28-6

71min gone.

 

[Forty20]

Haha, all the luck running with Mountie now. On the back of a broken down movement due to a poor pass, Brenko Lee scoops the ball up and optimistically rolls it in behind from 20m out from our goal line. The ball is certain to roll dead until the last rotation where it kicks up perfectly for Lee chasing his own kick. Good try though I guess.

The conversion is successful.

Mounties lead Wenty 34-6

75min gone.

 

[Forty20]

Butler-Fleming manages to secure possession for Wenty after fielding a bomb on his goal line but there was a definite bobble there. Did well in the end.

Wenty ruck it out to their 30m line before attacking down their left where they pick up a fresh set after Matterson's pass is knocked down by a defender.

Vai Toutai has a strong run from the scrum win down the left edge. Wenty then spin it right on the second before using Taunaola Kei I believe on the third. He gets up looking for a quick play the ball but has a defender holding his leg and makes an error. No penalty is called despite the protestations of the Wenty players.

Mounties attack our left edge and try to kick in behind early but the ball gets multiple deflections in the line of defence before Kassis knocks it on.

Mounties kick it in behind from the scrum win but Goodall and Faraimo get back and bat it dead with 26 seconds on the clock and that will do us for today.

Full Time

Mounties 34 DEF Wenty 6

 

[T.S Quint]

Sounds like we hung in there for a while but couldn't take advantage of our possession.
Thanks Forty20.

 

[Forty20]

Sounds like we hung in there for a while but couldn't take advantage of our possession.
Thanks Forty20.

We certainly could have capitalised on a few more chances but it was a tremendous effort to even put ourselves in that position. Mounties are running third and we are fielding a largely Ron Massey Cup side at the moment. Sucks to lose but I can't begrudge Wenty too much today, the effort was there.

 

[hineyrulz]

The side really missed Kelly by the looks.

 

[T.S Quint]

The side really missed Kelly by the looks.

Maybe Seffa could have been the difference.

 

[Parra47]

How did Henry, Matterson and Madden go 40?

 

[Forty20]

How did Henry, Matterson and Madden go 40?

Henry kicked really well early on before getting binned for that punch but was pretty quiet upon return - probably not one of his better games for Wenty on the balance of everything.

Matterson was alright. Defended strongly and hammered a few big forwards that were directed his way. Did okay when Henry got binned running the show himself but still has a ways to go.

Madden spent time at hooker, lock and half and wasn't really noticeable barring a few good kicks taken when Henry was sitting in the shed. Not really a bad thing though as he kept plugging away up the middle doing his job.

 

[Parra47]

Cheers 40