RON MASSEY CUP
Western Suburbs ran in 10 tries in an outstanding display to hammer Cabramatta 56-16.
Wests were first on the board, a midfield bomb spilt by Cabramatta allowing for an extra set which saw Inno Inosesio touch down out wide with the second try coming in the same position as Jerome Mose broke clear down the wing before putting Blake Cavallaro over for a 10-0 lead inside six minutes.
Wests were totally dominating the opening stages of the match and this resulted in their third try after 18 minutes, a kick in behind the line seeing Tom Morrison, in his first game of the season, get to the ball ahead of Daniel Abou-Sleiman. Cabramattas defence was solid, but then turned to water as David Harris put Wests up by 22 after as many minutes after going through a hole the size of Sydney Heads.
Cabramatta finally came alive seven minutes before halftime, a break from Daniel Abou-Sleiman through an almost non-existent hole allowed him to find Brendan Haraki, who then kicked back after drawing Shannon Gallant for Abou-Sleiman to get the try. Wests responded though, Dayne Craig burrowing for a simple try from dummy half after Luke Williams had tried the same play the ruck before, Shannon Gallant converting for a halftime lead of 28-6 to the home side.
Wests began the second half where they left off in the first, Dayne Craig kicking wide after a Brendan Waters offload to find Tala Mapesone unmarked before Craig got his second after a short side raid that yielded results on the left fringe. Cabramatta opened their second half account just before the hour as Kenny Niko went over on the left after Wests scrambling defence failed to recover in time after a quick tap penalty.
Cabramattas defence started to look shaky and David Harris took fulla dvantage with 15 minutes remaining, bolting through a gap and swerving around Daniel Abou-Sleiman for his second try before Tarek El Masri responded for the visitors from dummy half after Cabramatta regathered possession from the restart.
Dayne Craigs third try of the day, eight minutes from time, came courtesy of a David Harris intercept, the two forwards combining on the 65 metre charge before lock forward Matt Eisenhuth helped himself to a tiny Blake Cavallaro grubber for his first of the year to cap of a 40 pint hammering of the Two Blues.
WESTERN SUBURBS 56 (Dayne Craig 3, David Harris 2, Inno Inosesio, Blake Cavallaro, Tom Morrison, Tala Mapesone, Matt Eisenhuth tries; Shannon Gallant 8 from 10) defeated CABRAMATTA 16 (Daniel Abou-Sleiman, Kenny Niko, Tarek El Masri tries; Jake Jackson 2 from 3)
SYDNEY SHIELD
Defence was almost banned at Campbelltown as the Magpies snuck home 42-40 against Cabramatta. Both sides coughed up some early ball, but the visitors were the first to hold on to it long enough to create an opportunity as Brett Castles took advantage of some poor defence to touch down out wide after stepping back inside the converging cover.
Cabra were in again three minutes later as a perfectly weighted kick found George Vujanovic steaming through to mark ahead of the home side before the visitors got their second three minutes later, a right hand break allowing for another kick, the bounce favouring Jake Webb to blow the score out to 16-0.
Wests nabbed their first try after 22 minutes, a nice offload by Jai Doolan sending Roman Ioelu over adjacent to the uprights.
Cabramatta, however, returned fire almost immediately as Ibudoc Solomona cut through some very poor Magpie defence to touch down out wide. Wests returned serve through Thomas Capper, whose touchdown out wide raised a few suspicions of a forward pass from Noa Tuitavuki despite being allowed to go by Darian Furner. Furner was the focus of more wrath, this time from the home side as Jarrod Robson managed to ground the ball despite the attention of four Magpie defenders. Ibudoc Solimona then grabbed his second, Cabra going to halftime ahead 34-10.
Wests kicked off the second half in style, with Jai Doolan dummying his way through the Cabra defence for Wests third of the day before Doolan turned provider, Roman Ioelu getting his second after dashing 60 metres.
Wests were putting on a show, George Nasilai touching down after a crossfield kick from Pio Sofa went awry, but Cabramatta found a way to halt the home sides momentum as Michael Dent kept the defence at bay with a series of dummies to put Cabras lead back out to 16.
The Magpies kept coming though, a break from Jai Doolan setting up a quick play the ball, Roman Ioelu finding Thomas Capper with the cut out ball for a try in the corner. Wests struck quickly again, Misieli Vaikelli going over on the right before Jai Doolan backed up a midfield break to touch down out wide, Roman Ioelus conversion attempt failing to level the scores.
Wests capped a dramatic game two minutes from the end, a long ball from Jai Doolan finding Thomas Capper, who snuck home ahead of the cover defence to, amazingly, get the Magpies home.
WESTERN SUBURBS 42 (Thomas Capper 3, Roman Ioelu 2, Jai Doolan 2, George Nasilai, Misieli Vaikelli tries; Noa Tuitavuki 2 from 2, Jai Doolan 0 from 1, Roman Ioelu 1 from 6) defeated CABRAMATTA 40 (Ibudoc Solimona 2, Brett Castles, George Vujanovic, Jake Webb, Jarrod Robson, Michael Dent tries; Makaera Ormsby 6 from 7)
