De La Salle remains at the top of the Harrigan Premiership ladder after a hard-fought 26-12 win over Corrimal in Round 12. Collegians sit in the all-important second spot after defeating Dapto 22-10. Wests and Thirroul round out the top four after sharing the points in their 10-all slugfest at Gibson Park.
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Wests opened the scoring through a long-range intercept try to Tautau Moga, the former NRL star snatching a Jarrod Boyle pass from mid-air. The Devils raced to a 10-0 lead on the half-hour mark when hooker Joey Dickson burrowed his way over.
Just as the Devils were about to head to the sheds with two unanswered tries, the mercurial Boyle landed a cross-field kick on a dime for his wing Jye Patterson to score as the halftime siren sounded for a 10-4 score line at the break.
With both sides looking to take control in a fiery second half, the Butchers eventually levelled the score through Toby Huxley with 15 minutes remaining.
Both sides had a late chance to seal the result, with the Devils missing a long-range field goal attempt and the Butchers’ last opportunity denied by a one-on-one steal in the game’s final play.
De La Salle led a determined Cougars outfit 14-0 at halftime, eventually scoring five tries to two in their 14-point victory.
The Dowel brothers crossed for four-pointers in Collegians 22-10 win over Dapto, leaving the Canaries three points adrift of fourth place with just four games remaining before the Finals Series.
The Lower Grades
Wests and Berkeley continued their dominance in the Harrigan Plate with wins over Corrimal and Avondale Wombats. The Devils scored seven tries to one in their 40-4 victory over the Cougars, and the Eagles edged out the Wombats 22-20.
Helensburgh kept their finals hopes alive with a 16-10 upset over the Butchers. The Tigers are trailing the fourth-place Wombats by three points. Collegians defeated Dapto 24-12.
The Harrigan Shield competition is becoming one of the closest competitions in years. Seven of the eight teams are still in contention for the finals, with just three competition points separating third and seventh on the ladder.
Avondale Greyhounds are the only undefeated team remaining in the competition after finally breaking the deadlock at the top of the table with a 32-10 win over the previously undefeated Figtree.
The Northern Bulldogs pulled off the upset of the round with a 22-0 win over Windang to sit just outside the four.
The Wombats ran out convincing 42-10 winners over the Eagles and Wests, all but ending the Cougars’ hopes of playing finals footy with a 28-22 win at Ziems Park.