Shute Shield Finals Wk 2 Review

Manly and Southern Districts crash through to prelim finals

Shute Shield Finals Week 2 Review by Brittany Mitchell, photos by www.seiserphotography.com

Manly has today joined yesterday’s winner Southern Districts in next week’s prelim finals after two tries in the dying stages propelled them to a late victory over Eastern Suburbs.

Manly will now take on minor premier Eastwood next Sunday at TG Millner, with the other prelim final seeing reigning champion Sydney University host Southern Districts on Saturday, in a rematch of last year’s Grand Final (both 3.10pm kick offs).

The winners will contest the 2013 Shute Shield Grand Final at Concord Oval on Saturday September 14.

Eastern Suburbs v Manly

The Manly Marlins have snatched victory from Eastern Suburbs after scoring two late tries in the dying stages of today’s ABC TV match of the day. Despite trailling for much of the second half, Manly turned it on with tries from Jordy Reid and Alex Walker securing the win and their team’s progress to next week’s preliminary finals.

After a slow start, Manly put the first points on the board with a Marshal Milroy conversion but Easts were quick to return serve, levelling the scores with a Brendan McKibbin penalty with 10 minutes left in the first period.

As the end of the first period approached, Manly seized a chance by capitalising on an overlap to send hooker Pat Leafa over. Although Easts had the chance to close the gap, McKibbin’s 40m penalty sailed wide, leaving his team trailing by 8 – 3 at the break.

The second half showcased plenty of running rugby, with both sides making numerous breaks only to spill the ball in contact. After several phases of pressuring Manly’s try line, Easts eventually made it over when Elijah Niko sliced through the midfield and his grounding was confirmed by the TMO. When McKibbin added the extras, the Beasties took the lead for the first time in the match.

After missing a number of shots at goal, the Beasties were unable to build on their lead and with only 10 minutes remaining, Marlin Jordy Reid dove over after Richard Hooper made a great break downfield and connected with the breakaway to send him over and steal back the advantage, with Milroy’s kick pushing the Marlins ahead by 15 to 10.

Full of confidence, Marlins’ captain Ed Gower sealed the win by palming his way through the defence to power over for his side’s third try. Milroy again added the extras to push the lead to 22-10 with only five minutes of play left. Easts hit back, with a clever flick pass out of the tackle from  skipper Pauli Taumoepeau sending Alex Walker over in the corner but from the restart, Manly held on for the last few seconds and secured the victory by 22-15. Manly will now face Eastwood at TG Millner next Sunday, with the winner progressing to the Grand Final.

Manly 22 (Ed Gower, Pat Leafa, Jordy Reid tries; Marshall Milroy cons 2, pen) d Eastern Suburbs 15 (Elijah Niko, Alex Walker tries; Brendan McKibbin con, pen) at Coogee Oval. Referee Andrew Lees

Southern Districts v Randwick

Southern Districts booked their spot in the Shute Shield preliminary finals yesterday, thanks to a 57-25 win over Randwick at Coogee Oval.

The visitors were too good for the Galloping Greens, who struggled to contain the mighty Rebels’ backline.

A Rohan Saifoloi double and a hat-trick from Alex Gibbon proved the Wicks’ un-doing, with Ethan Ford notching up two of Randwick’s three tries.

Although the Wicks were buoyed by the arrival of replacement prop Sekope Kepu and fought hard to come back in the last 20 minutes, Souths’  lead was too extensive and in the end they managed to cross after the siren to seal the win.

The win means Souths will now go on to face Sydney Uni in the preliminary finals, with the winner of that match progressing into the 2013 Grand Final.

Southern Districts 57 (Nick Cummins, Alex Gibbon 3, Rob Horne, Andrew Leota, Rohan Saifoloi 2, Lopeti Timani tries; Rohan Saifoloi 6 cons) d Randwick 25 (Ethan Ford 2, Nathan Paila tries; Marc Kotecxky 2 cons, 2 pens) at Coogee Oval. Referee Damien Mitchelmore.

Results – Finals Week 2

Fixtures – Finals Week 3