Match of the Round 6: Churchie at The Southport School (41-26)
Will Rafter (RuggasXV)
Since NC’s defeat at the hands of the star-studded ACGS side of 2014, this looked to be the last chance for both NC and TSS to have a chance of taking out a shared premiership. Things looked surprisingly good for TSS; home-ground advantage and an injury-free side dictated that this match might just be the upset the 2014 GPS competition has been waiting for. However, things went quite the opposite.
1st HALF
ACGS commenced the match with a nice kick-off and immediately TSS opted for the pick and drive through their physical forwards. A penalty 30 seconds later gave them a first shot at penetrating the ACGS half and they did just that off the ensuring line out. Another penalty in the midfield and TSS were off like a rocket, #12. Jai Whitbread making a clear break through the ACGS backline before offloading to #15. Fred Dorrough who in turn put #10. Tyler Campbell in under the sticks for a fantastic team try. Dorrough split the uprights and after just three minutes the score was 7-0 in favour of TSS. Were ACGS unravelling already?
Nope. ACGS managed to win the ball of their second kick-off and almost instantaneously, #13. Izaia Perese turned on the heat and aggressively shoved his way through some disappointing TSS centerfield defence before spinning the ball wide for his winger #14. Brodie Croft to score his first try. Unfortunately, #9. Harry Nucifora was unable to add the extras as the score became 7-5 in the 4th minute but ACGS had only just begun.
The following passage of play highlighted just how important defence is in this sport as TSS again found themselves in the ACGS half after a line out. Some wide attacking runs from the forwards proved fruitless against solid defence from their opposition and they disappointingly knocked it on. As strong as they were, ACGS were still prone to the occasionally error here and there and a poor lineout off a penalty kick saw the ball reach the hands of Dorrough who ran a superb line and shot downfield before just being caught. TSS were in a prime spot to score points but their lateral phase play saw no gains through Churchie’s superb defence. A nice run by #7. Angus Allen was held up over the line and a knock on off the resulting scrum put an end to a much needed opportunity for TSS.
The ACGS lineout was becoming a letdown as the game progressed. ACGS #15. Kalyn Ponga managed to get his team out of trouble through his trademark fancy footwork after TSS had penetrated their half yet again. Yet the opportunities were becoming limited for the Southport boys, an overlap ruined by some poor handling and a crunching hit by ACGS #5. Angus Scott-Young creating a turnover which became a penalty in front of the posts. Nucifora stepped up and slotted his first goal to make the score 8-7 after 15 minutes.
The monstrous ACGS defence was taking its toll on the TSS boys who were finding no meters in attack. After forcing another penalty, a lineout 30m out from the TSS line gave the slick ACGS backs another opportunity to dazzle their opponents. Yet it was some gruelling runs from the forwards, in particular Australian Schoolboy #1. Richie Asiata who powered towards the line before he was brought down 5m out. A simple wide ball to Croft was all it took for him to score his second try. Nucifora was unable to convert and the score was 13-7 in the 20th minute.
Unable to go down without a fight, TSS took advantage of errors by the ACGS forwards and a great run from TSS #13. Joey Fittock had them camped 5m out from the ACGS line again. ACGS defence was still superb but yet another knock on in tight after winning a turnover gave Campbell his second try after finding a gap and dragging himself and several bodies over the line to score. Dorrough missed the kick and the score was 13-12 in the 27th minute.
The TSS defence seemed to derail at this point. Despite making a few cynical errors, ACGS were crushing everything TSS threw at them with some punishing hits and after earning a penalty on their opposition 22, all it took was a strong run by #8. Harley Fox and then Perese ran it straight and went straight through untouched to score. Nucifora added the extras to make it 20-12 with five minutes left in the half.
TSS stumbled majorly in the last 5 minutes. Rattled by the ACGS defence, the ball shot backwards into their own half courtesy of a Perese tackle. A few kicks ahead from #10. Mack Mason and Croft had the ball in his hands. A very nice weave and bump saw him crash over to snag a hattrick right before halftime. Nucifora wrapped it up with a successful conversion before the teams retired with the score line 27-12 in favour of ACGS, who looked very comfortable against an opposition who seemed to be unable to recreate their previous performances from throughout the season, with the score line threatening to blow out if TSS didn’t find way to pierce the ACGS defence and fix the patches within their own.
2nd HALF
Four minutes was all it took for ACGS to extend their lead. After more outstanding defence work, shutting down multiple TSS attacking opportunities, ACGS secured a turnover, kicked downfield, and regained possession. With the centres making more and more ground with each run, TSS #6. PJ Van den Berg was shown yellow for a repeated breakdown infringement. His absence was felt as ACGS #4 Jeremy Gimpel scored shortly after a close range lineout. Nucifora converted to make the score 34-12. Looked like TSS were in for a shocker.
However, that wasn’t to be. Despite TSS flopping multiple opportunities through botch kicks and poor passes, ACGS had begun to push their hand, giving away a few more penalties at the ruck and throwing some 50/50 passes. Finally, Dorrough, easily the standout for TSS by this stage, broke the line yet again in attack, before handing the ball off to Fittock who managed to beat his opposite and throw a sweet inside ball to Campbell who scored his third try in a similar manner to his first. Dorrough added the extras to make the score 34-19 in the 46th minute.
The next twenty minutes of play saw the most even passages of the match. ACGS seemed to tire slightly as their defence started leaking meters to the TSS forwards and their runs became less and less dominant. Despite this, they still managed to get excitingly close to another try only to concede a turnover after Fox was held up over the line. A beautiful run from Van den Berg gave TSS a sublime opportunity to respond and after pushing their way into opposition territory and finding themselves 5 meters out from the ACGS line, they were gifted with a penalty and ACGS #2. Josh Webb found himself in the bin.
ACGS finally managed to secure a penalty after some superb defensive efforts, particularly from Perese. The colossal defence was back for them and after yet another turnover and a superb kick from Mason, ACGS were on fire yet again. Fox showcased his strength and strolled on under the posts for Churchie’s sixth, making it easy for Nucifora to extend his lead and making the score 41-19 with five minutes to go.
A try at the death for their opposition was becoming a staple for ACGS games and TSS did just that. After going nowhere in attack, a fantastic offload put the TSS winger into space. However, Ponga made put on an amazing display of cover defence and showed him the corner before barging him into touch right before the line. Nevertheless, TSS still managed to find space on the other side of the field and #14. Dylan Riley scored his team’s fourth try on full time. Dorrough kicked to make the final score 41-26 in an exciting game.
ACGS well and truly deserved the win with such an aggressive yet streamlined performance. I was somewhat unimpressed by the Southport boys despite hearing such positive feedback from their previous outings and the fact that ACGS were able to put 41 points into them showed just why they had the amount of state and national representatives that they did. Congratulations to both teams for providing this young man for an entertaining fixture.
SCORING
ACGS 41 (B. Croft 3, I. Perese, J. Gimpel, H. Fox tries; H. Nucifora 4 cons; H. Nucifora pen) defTSS 26 (T. Campbell 3, D. Riley tries; F. Dorrough 3 cons)
PLAYERS
ACGS#13. Izaia Perese – A hard player in both attack and defence, what was most impressive was his one on one defence, accounting for several try saving moments and setting up a long range try through a big hit.
#1. Richie Asiata – Carried the ball well into contact, proving hard to stop once a head of steam had accumulated.
#5. Angus Scott-Young – Made life hard for his opposition particularly in defence at the breakdown.
TSS
#15. Fred Dorrough – Showed real class being able to split a backline as skilful as Churchie’s, his powerful running proved to be Southport’s biggest asset, shown by his hand in nearly all of their tries.
#7. Angus Allen – Unlucky to be denied his try as such a big unit able to spot the gap was a sight to see. Busy around the park.
#6. PJ Van den Berg – Similar to Allen, busied himself with some dominant carries and strong showings in defence.
