Mounties have registered back to back wins in the opening two rounds of the VB NSW Cup with a comprehensive 46-10 win over the Newcastle Knights in Newcastle on Sunday.
Playing as the curtain raiser to the NRL, Mounties scored first points in the 6th minute when Mitch Cornish found a staggered defence close to the line and delivered a nice ball to Joe Bond who put Sami Sauiluma over in the corner for a 4-0 lead after the conversion went wide.
Mounties were in again just three minutes later when Kyle O'Donnell put a great shot on the Newcastle attack and jarred the ball free for Bill Tupou to dive over out wide after a quick shift from Cornish and with the second missed conversion it was 8-0 Mounties way.
In the 15th minute the Knights got some luck when a no look flick pass close to the line stuck and they were able to dive over for a converted try, and Mounties led 8-6.
In the 23rd minute Sami Sauiluma got his second try of the game when he dived over in the south east corner after great work from Jake Foster and Mounties led 12-6 after the conversion again failed to find its mark.
The 35th minute saw Sami Sauiluma get his third try of the game when some enterprising play found Foster in space with Cornish and Tupou both chiming in to get the winger over the line with Cornish converting to make it 18-6.
Mounties weren't finished in the half and with minutes to go until the break, Reece Goldsmith dived over from dummy half beside the posts to give Mounties a 24-6 lead at the break.
Mounties resumed the scoring in the second half when Joe Bond broke the line and sprinted away with Goldsmith again on the end of the movement to dive over for his second try and Newcastle opened up to a 24 point deficit, Mounties leading 30-6.
The 59th minute saw Foster get a well deserved try after running a great line onto a perfect short ball from Mitch Cornish and the conversion had Mounties out to a 36-6 lead with a quarter to go.
In the 67th minute Foster got a double when he hit an out ball from Cornish and had the pace to make it to the line before the cover defence converged and Mounties had an unassailable 40-6 lead.
Determined to be ruthless until the end Sami Sauiluma got a fourth try when he got on the end of a long cutout ball from Joe Bond to make it 46-6 in favour of Mounties with eight minutes to play.
In the dying minutes Mounties desire to register two 50 point scorelines in as many weeks became their downfall when a loose ball was scooped up by the Knights and they scored in the corner on the bell to make the final score 46-10.
Mounties remain on top of the VB NSW Cup ladder after two rounds.
In the OAMPS Cup Mounties registered two losses when the True Blue Chemicals Sydney Shield side were beaten 44-0 by Wenty and in the Ron Massey Cup Mounties were beaten by Wenty 46-20.
Next week Mounties take on Newtown in the VB NSW Cup while the Sydney Shield and Ron Massey Cup teams play the opening round of their respective competitions with all teams at home at Aubrey Keech a Reserve Hinchinbrook from 11:30am.
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