Insult and injury as Two Blues whip Wicks
Jamie Pandaram | August 4, 2008
INJURY was added to insult as Randwick lost two key players and a match that was expected to yield maximum points against Parramatta on Saturday.
The Galloping Greens slipped from second to third place on the Shute Shield ladder after the shock 17-10 loss - the upset of the season so far.
They also face a tough run into the finals without centre Bernie Orbell and lock Steve Brennan, who injured their knees early in the contest at Two Blues Park.
Randwick coach Mark Giacheri conceded that the result was a blow but was not about to read the riot act to his players.
"It wasn't for a lack of effort," Giacheri said. "It was due to a lot of errors on our part, and credit must be given to Parramatta, their defence was able to hold us out at the end. We suffered some injuries early on and that made it difficult with combinations.
"But obviously the result was disappointing. I'm sure the problems can be fixed without too much work."
This should have been a routine victory for Randwick, who fielded Super 14 players Sekope Kepu, Adam Freier, Mark Chisholm, Ben Mowen, Pat Phibbs, Josh Valentine and Francis Fainifo against their less fancied opponents. But the Two Blues took advantage of the injuries and some turnover ball to streak to a 17-0 half-time lead, courtesy of tries to lock Steve Mafi, winger Tito Mua and centre Paula Kaveinga.
"It showed a lot of character for the boys to fight back the way they did after that," Giacheri said.
"We also had a man sent to the bin at the end of the first half, so we started the second half 17-0 down, with 14 men, running into the breeze.
"We spent the entire half camped on their goal-line but just couldn't get that third try."
Even the introduction of the tournament's leading try-scorer, Ratu Nasiganiyavi, in the second half wasn't enough to get the visitors home, although he did trouble the defenders as usual.
Nasiganiyavi had flown into Sydney from Tonga on Friday night after playing an exhibition match in Tonga to honour the inauguration of a new king.
Orbell has a corked knee, while Brennan suffered medial ligament damage. The prognosis on both will be known today following more scans but it is anticipated each will miss at least three weeks.
Halfback Phibbs is also causing concerns after complaining of back problems, and he may also miss this weekend's crucial match against Warringah - who smashed Eastwood 53-21 on Saturday and boast NSW No.9 Brett Sheehan.
Sydney University maintained first place with a 76-0 destruction of Penrith to jump to 76 competition points, with prop Jerry Yanuyanutawa bagging a hat-trick.
Gordon (68 points) replaced Randwick (65) in the top two after a solid 43-7 win over last-placed Southern Districts.
West Harbour's mid-season blues continued as they were toppled 37-24 by Norths. The Pirates were hunting University for top spot early in the season but are now clinging to sixth with Eastwood and Manly not far behind.
