If You Come, They Will Build It

Round 12 of the John I Dent cup saw plenty of action and a couple of upsets. Although the Vikings still sit atop the ladder the gap to the chasing teams has shortened. On to the games.

Easts V Uni-North Owls

By Ben Doyle

On a cold but sunny day at Griffith oval, Eastern Suburbs hosted the Uni-Norths Owls. Uni had started the season on fire, with three wins in a row, and the luckless Easts still unable to chalk up a win in first grade.

The first halve started well for the Owls, with quick turn over ball and the lightning quick Brumby Tom Cox causing havoc for the Easts backline who were without standout fullback Matt Giugni due to injury. These incisive runs by the Owls backs soon saw them up by a couple of tries.

The Easts set piece struggled, with the scrum being consistently pushed over and the line out messy. With continued inability to set an acceptable platform for the backs, turnovers were freqeuent. Bhiamie Williams and Brumby Dylan Sigg were able to effect many of these turn overs, with Sigg in particular dominating many collisions in attack and defence.

The Owls took full advantage of the front foot attacking ball, and by half time the score was 26 – 0.

The second halve started in much the same manner as before, with Easts struggling at the set piece and when in possession, struggling to either create any real attacking opportunities or turning it over. The Owls were guilty of being less than clinical, with errant kicking from Cox seeing East’s Jimmy Crompton make a rare run into the Owls 22. Unfortunately, the ability to build pressure wasn’t there, and the ball was again turned over.

As a good team does with possession and set piece dominance, the score began to mount. Aside from a late consolation try to Easts hooker Tom Pilkinton, the final score reflected what was a very one sided match. Bhiamie Williams would be my man of the match, with Dylan Sigg also outstanding. For Easts, Jonno Naoupu again had a solid match in the unfamiliar position of inside-center, frequently getting over the advantage line, often off very flat and slow ball.

UNI-NORTHS OWLS 61 bt EASTS 7

Gungahlin Eagles v Tuggeranong Vikings

The Eagles defeated the unbeaten Vikings in a hard fought match at Nicholls Oval. The eagles played an aggressive game to put the Vikings off their game. the aggression saw them reduced to 13 men for part of the second half with Rutikha Ilolahia red-carded and Xavier Duffy in the sin bin.

GUNGAHLIN EAGLES 29 (X Duffy, I Vaea, M Hawke, J Lovell tries; M McMahon 3 conversions, penalty) bt TUGGERANONG VIKINGS 12 (B Taueki try, penalty try; R Iona conversion)

WESTS v QUEANBEYAN WHITES

WESTS 19 (M Pankhurst, F Auelua, J Luteru tries; A McKerchar 2 conversions) bt QUEANBEYAN WHITES 16 (N Murray, C Barbaro tries; S Windsor 2 penalties).

John I Dent Cup Round 13 fixtures

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If You Come, They Will Build It