It was a tough day at the office for the Greater Northern Tigers and Newcastle Maitland Region (MR) Knights junior outfits at the weekend.
Brett Jarrett’s Tigers’ under-16s lost their second round Andrew Johns Cup clash 20-0 to the Central Coast Roosters at Morry Breen Oval, Wyong, on Saturday 13 February while the Darryl Rando-mentored under-18s were beaten 22-4.
Unfortunately, the Newcastle MR Knights fared no better.
The Monaro Colts put them to the sword in the under-16s 26-4 at Workers Arena, Goulburn, while it was a close encounter in the under-18s with the Knights just pipped 18-16.
The older Greater Northern boys started well with lock Sam Fechner scoring in the 16th minute but that was the end of their superiority.
“Even then we had to do a lot of tackling,” Rando said.
That extra work, brought about by numerous handling errors, took its toll in the second half.
The Roosters had taken the lead in the 28th minute when Wiremu Tibbut scored the first of his two tries for Jessi O’Neill-Pethebridge to convert and take an advantage at the break.
Second half four-pointers to Beau Newlands, Michael Whitton and Tibbut rounded out a good win for the host division against a disappointing Tigers.
“We just didn’t play well,” Rando said.
“I can’t fault their effort.
“Everyone tried hard but we dropped too much ball in the first half and our kicking game was poor.
“In fact, we couldn’t control the ball well enough to get to our kicking game.”
Hooker Harry Reid won the Tigers’ game ball with a wholehearted effort at dummy half and in the middle.
Earlier, the Jarrett-coached under-16s slumped to a 20-0 loss to Central Coast.
They trailed 8-0 at the break, after young Roosters Tyrone Dorrell and Aymn Hamilton scored tries in the 19th and 26th minutes.
Dorrell added a second nine minutes into the second period with Jarrod Dann and Jake Elliot completing the tryscoring for the home division.
“It was a little disappointing,” Jarrett said after the match.
“We were in the game at half-time but once again our second period let us down.
“They (Roosters) were good and outplayed us.
“Our defence was a little off in the second half, too.
“We got caught out a few times, had a few lapses and they made us pay.
“However, there was a lot of good effort.
“The middle forwards tried hard, they trucked it up all day.
“I was pretty happy with them and probably would have liked a bit more from our halves but it just wasn’t a day to play good footy.”
He thought Logan Spinks, front-rowers Matthew Ross and Seb Lawler and Nate Follington (until injured) were good with fullback Riley Pennell also dangerous.
The under-16s now play Northern Rivers Titans in a third round Andrew Johns Cup clash in Armidale next Saturday.
The Titans lost their fixture 32-0 to the North Coast Bulldogs at Nambucca Heads today.
- by Geoff Newling
COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
ANDREW JOHNS CUP
Round 2
GREATER NORTHERN TIGERS v CENTRAL COAST ROOSTERS
Morry Breen Oval, Wyong – Saturday
CENTRAL COAST ROOSTERS 20 (Tyrone Dorrell 2, Aymn Hamilton, Jarrod Dann, Jake Elliott tries) d GREATER NORTHERN TIGERS 0
ILLAWARRA SOUTH COAST DRAGONS v MACARTHUR WESTS TIGERS
Kirkham Oval, Camden – Saturday
ILLAWARRA SC DRAGONS 24 (Samson Mcallister-Wood, Clay Baldock, Jackson Rieck, Billy Hahn tries; Baldock 4 goals) d MACARTHUR WESTS TIGERS 22 (Zac Gibson, Daniel Waqa, Bowen Roper, Jeremiah Leatigaga tries; Gibson 3 goals)
MONARO COLTS v NEWCASTLE MAITLAND REGION KNIGHTS
Workers Arena, Goulburn – Saturday
MONARO COLTS 26 (Blake Hovi, Mark Connors, Sean Ward, William Johnston, Ethan Alaia tries; Hovi 3 goals) d NEWCASTLE MR KNIGHTS 4 (Taylor Griffen try)
NORTH COAST BULLDOGS v NORTHERN RIVERS TITANS
Coronation Park, Nambucca Heads – Saturday
NORTH COAST BULLDOGS 32 (Bill Butlin 3, Hudson Harmer 2, Benjamin Geary, William Hogan tries; Navren Willett 2 goals) d NORTHERN RIVERS TITANS 0
RIVERINA BULLS v WESTERN RAMS
No 1 Sportsground Leeton – Playing Sunday
LAURIE DALEY CUP
Round 2
GREATER NORTHERN TIGERS v CENTRAL COAST ROOSTERS
Morry Breen Oval, Wyong – Saturday
CENTRAL COAST ROOSTERS 22 (Wiremu Tibbutt 2, Beau Newlands, Michael Whitton tries, Jessi O’Neill-Pethebridge 3 goals) d GREATER NORTHERN TIGERS 4 (Sam Fechner try)
MACARTHUR WESTS TIGERS v ILLAWARRA SC DRAGONS
Kirkham Oval, Camden – Saturday
MACARTHUR WESTS TIGERS 12 (Jack Simpson, Raiden Crowe, Lawrence Saipaia tries) d ILLAWARRA SC DRAGONS 10 (Jarvis Austin 2 tries; Ryan Hodgson goal)
MONARO COLTS v NEWCASTLE MR KNIGHTS
Workers Arena, Goulburn – Saturday
MONARO COLTS 18 (Kane Rushton, Matthew Wheatley, Mitchell Swadling, Ty Dowdle tries; Mitchell Evans goal) d NEWCASTLE MR KNIGHTS 16 (Bailey Scholes, Jett Cox, Tyler Moodie tries; Liam Browne 2 goals)
NORTH COAST BULLDOGS v NORTHERN RIVERS TITANS
Coronation Park, Nambucca Heads – Saturday
NORTH COAST BULLDOGS 22 (Christopher Bull 2, Tyrese Dungay, Benjamin Brennan tries; Oshay Tyerman 3 goals) d NORTHERN RIVERS TITANS 12 (Rowan Mansfield, Harvey Moase tries; Michael Roberts 2 goals)
RIVERINA BULLS v WESTERN RAMS
No 1 Sportsground Leeton – Playing Sunday
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