Official Wentworthville Magpies Thread II

[Forty20]

Luke Kelly has conversion duties today and his first attempt is bang on point.

Wenty lead Wyong 6-0

8min gone.

 

[Forty20]

Ualesi has a good run to get the set underway and Wenty go straight to their left-edge next play. Hunt fires a good ball to Pewhairangi but he can't grasp it and turns the ball over on halfway.

Wyong only make 20m from the turnover set but complete the set with a wonderful kick that traps Cummins ingoals for a line drop out.

 

[Forty20]

Error from Wyong takes all the pressure off as Cummins and Toutai find big metres from dummy half down the right.

Alvaro helps centre the ball before Hun sweeps to Cummins down the left. Wyong mark well once again and Cummins stabs a grubber through as Bureta gives chase and tackles the Wyong fullback 10m out from his tryline.

Lasalo lays on a great hit in defence as Wenty pin Wyong deep in their own half this set. They fire off a optimistic attempt at a 40/20 and Cummins scoots back to take it on the full.

Wenty undoes the good work though with a loose carry up the middle.

 

[Forty20]

As I type that out, Wyong have dropped the ball in turn as the greasy conditions take their toll on possession.

Lorenzo Ma'afu mkaes some good metres early in the set as Wenty grind their way past halfway.

Santi is down for a second but rises before the trainer gets to him.

Luke Kelly kicks it down the right-edge on the last but it just rolls dead ingoals before the chase can get there.

 

[Forty20]

Ualesi is playing in the middle today with Santi on the right and Ma'afu on the left.

Wyong attack our right-edge but are well contained. They kick it towards the posts on the last with a powerful grubber. Cummins has a grab at it but it bursts through his hands and it is cleaned up contentiously by a Wenty defender. Perhaps a hint of offside there but Wenty come away with the penalty for a second effort in the tackle and find touch 10m short of halfway.

Ma'afu draws another penalty for yet another second effort in the tackle to give Wenty possession 20m out from Wyong's goal line.

 

[Forty20]

Kelly does it all himself there. He has shifted to the left-edge for this play and with a stack of men shaping up outside him he throws the dummy and slides through all too easily.

 

[Forty20]

Kelly converts his own try.

Wenty lead Wyong 12-0

20min gone.

 

[Forty20]

Lasalo steams in from the kickoff for strong metres as Wenty follow that run up with strong carries to Ualesi and Avlaro.

They cross halfway with a play or two to spare but don't need them. Cummins is on the sweep down the left again and he gets on the outside of the centre to give Api Pewhairangi some space to work in. Pewhairangi does his footy 101 perfectly and draws the winger to give Bureta Fairamo a run to the goal line with only the fullback in his way.

With a wind up this long, Faraimo was always going to be hard to stop and he bulldozes his way past the Wyong fullback to score out wide on the left.

Kelly nails the conversion from the left sideline.

Wenty lead Wyong 18-0

23min gone.

The rain has come back as well.

 

[Forty20]

Turnover from the second tackle for Wenty here. Conditions certainly haven't helped but you can't go giving away the ball after points.

Wyong get bogged down attacking near the posts for their first few tackles but some second phase play finally sees the Wenty defence open up and Mark O'Meley only has to dive over the line to score.

Wenty are punished for full-freight from a soft turnover as the conversion is taken.

Wyong trail Wenty 6-18

26min gone.

 

[Forty20]

Lights are on now.

Wenty lift their intensity this set and contain Wyong well. The Roos panic somewhat in return in their desperation to find some metres and an unnecessary offload is dropped.

An aggressive play from the scrum win sees Wenty nearly break Wyong open with a backline move down our left-edge. Pewhairangi had just about beaten his man on the outside and was looking to flick the ball to Faraimo but a cover defender knocked the ball loose and the ref calls for a Wyong scrum.

 

[Forty20]

Cummins pulls down a half break from the Wyong #5 with a good tackle but as a result he isn't in position on the last for a kick.

Wyong direct their grubber towards the posts and Luke Kelly dutifully gets back to clean it up and run it dead.

There is another mistake from Wyong from the line drop out as they drop the ball on their first run.

Wenty scrum 25m out from their goal line.

 

[Forty20]

Kelly sends a wicked torpedo bomb up on the last and the Wyong fullback has absolutely no idea how to take it.

Luck favours him massively though with a friendly bounce that helps fracture the chasing defenders and allow him to pinch 15m.

Wyong complete a solid set after that but Cummins is in place to take their kick safely once again.

 

[Forty20]

A good tackle from Pewhairangi jolts the ball loose just past halfway to give Wenty a scrum feed.

 

[Forty20]

Faraimo takes the hit up from the scrum and he is followed by Ualesi and Alvaro.

Hunt calls for the ball to the left and looks to pierce the Wyong line via Santi. He throws a short all to backrower coming in on an unders line but Santi just can't go with it and loses possession.

Wyong get the first penalty in some time as Wenty fail to make the 10m.

 

[Forty20]

Oh dear, Wyong lose possession in the play-the-ball 10m out from Wenty's goal line.

Terribly soft stuff there.

 

[Forty20]

Ualesi is hurt from a nasty tackle in which the defenders have twisted his torso violently.

No penalty from the ref thus far but he has blown time off as trainers attend to the young backrower.

 

[Forty20]

It is not looking good for Ualesi. The stretcher has come on and he is yet to move anything but his arms.

 

[Forty20]

Ualesi is being stretchered off and the ref has signaled for a play-the-ball. Awful decision IMO.

I sincerely hope Ualesi is alright.

 

[Forty20]

Another turnover, this time by Wenty as Cummins is hit after retrieving a loose ball and Wyong dive on the pill.

Santi makes two try savers in the resultant set but it isn't enough to keep Wyong out as their #7 runs it to the line and palms through some lazy defence.

The conversion is taken easily.

Wyong trail Wenty 12-18

30sec to go.

 

[Forty20]

The ref has incorrectly called time off for the kickoff which allows Wyong one last chance to score this half.

They opt to close of the half with a hit up and both teams trudge off to their respective change rooms.