Wests and De La Salle are joint competition leaders after defeating Thirroul and Collegians, respectively, in the Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup Magic Round at WIN Stadium on Saturday. Meanwhile, Dapto recorded their first win of the season to maintain contact with the top four.
In the Match of the Round, Wests held off the fast-finishing Thirroul Butchers to secure a 20-16 win. A second-half double to Wayne Bremner kept the Butchers in it, but in the end, a try to Colby Pellow meant that Wests hung on to clinch the victory after leading 14-0 at halftime.
Lachlan Hurst opened the scoring for Wests before his halfback Justin Rodrigues, playing in his 100th first-grade game for the club, crossed for a four-pointer. Mitch Porter kicked a penalty goal, as well as both conversions. While the Butchers had several attacking sets deep in their opposition’s half, they could not breach some high-quality defence.
Watch Replay>>Wests v Thirroul
De La Salle stake claim with comeback win over Collegians
De La Salle made a second-half comeback to secure a 28-14 win over reigning premiers Collegians. A length-of-the-field intercept try to centre Trentham Petersen in the last 10 minutes ensured the Shire-based outfit picked up their third win of the season. Luke Manahan’s charges made a strong claim for title favouritism, having beaten Thirroul and drawn with Wests in earlier rounds.
Collegians lead De La Salle 14-6 at the break, with Collies winger Jay Watling scoring the match’s first try, as they went up 4-0 early. Chaz Jarvis hit back with a great team try for De La Salle before Collies skipper Blake Phillips went over from close range.
Two penalty goals to Max Devlin late in the half gave Collegians an eight-point buffer going into the second stanza.
Watch Replay>>De La Salle v Collegians
Canaries get off the mark
The first game of Magic Round saw the Dapto Canaries defeat the Corrimal Cougars 50-6. The Canaries scored four second-half tries to secure their first win of the season after leading 26-6 at halftime.
The Canaries scored the first two tries through centre Brad Manton and winger Jack Piccirilli to go up 10-0 early. Corrimal then hit back with a try to centre Max Martin to narrow the margin to 10-6 after 22 minutes.
Dapto then responded with tries to Josh Vaartjes, Aaron Gray, and Anthony Skinner to give the Canaries a 20-point lead at the break.
Watch Replay >>Dapto v Corrimal
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Words and Images | Russ Haylock
