Mounties have suffered their second defeat in the 2014 VB NSW Cup with a sloppy 54-24 loss to Wentworthville at Ringrose Park on Sunday.
A terrible start by Mounties set the tone for the day and Wenty were able to capitalise in the 4th minute when a neat chip kick found Vai Toutai unmarked and he cruised over for a try and Wenty led 4-0 after the missed conversion.
Mounties were able to steady their rocky start and in the 6th minute it was the combination of Cornish and Foster that had Mounties in the lead when the back rower hit a hole and Cornish delivered the perfect pass for him to stroll over untouched and with Cornish adding the extras Mounties led 6-4.
Wenty played some tough football up front and missed tackles by Mounties gave the home team great field position and in the 15th minute they reclaimed the lead with a converted try beside the posts and Wenty led 10-6.
In the 20th minute another missed tackle saw Wenty claim another try under the sticks and the easy conversion had them leading 16-6 however Mounties were able to strike back soon after with Rodney Coates crashing over next to the right post after Reece Goldsmith was able to keep the ball alive despite the attention of two tacklers and the score had Wenty in front by 16-12.
In the 33rd minute Wenty struck again when a backline sweep saw Toutai go in again and he was able to improve the position for an easy conversion and Wenty led 22-12.
The next few minutes were tense with neither team wanting to give the other a scoring chance in the lead in to half time but a mistake by Mounties near half way enabled the home team to sneak over in the 38th minute with a converted try giving them a 28-12 lead at the break.
The ten minutes after the break were going to be crucial for Mounties to get back into the game but they couldn't turn it around and Wenty were able to post tries in the 47th and 50th minutes the second when a bomb was spilt and the score blew out to 38-12 and looked ominous for the visitors.
Mounties hit back seven minutes later with Foster getting his second after McIllrick made a long break and Mounties trailed 38-18.
In the 63rd minute the story of the day for Mounties surfaced again when three missed tackles in a row saw Wenty score next to the posts for them to lead 44-18.
Mounties didn't give up though and in the 67th minute Matt Place put in a neat kick and Jake Foster was able to out leap the defence and grab his third try for the day and the score was 44-24.
As hard as Mounties worked for their tries Wenty were able to easily counter and in the 73rd minute they scored again when a dropped ball was scooped up and they raced away for a 70m converted try and they led 50-24 and just when you thought they had put the que in the rack they struck again in the 77th minute for another try out wide to make the final score 54-24.
Despite the loss Mounties retain top place on the VB NSW Cup ladder.
In the Ron Massey Cup Mounties had an unhappy day when they trailed Wenty 34-0 at half time, the second half was a little more respectable with Mounties out scoring the home team two tries to one for a final score of 40-12.
In the True Blue Chemicals Sydney Shield Mounties tried hard and had some tough calls go against them in the first half and at the break they trailed Wenty 20-4.
In the second half fatigue struck and the score blew out to 48-10 at the final bell however they never stopped trying and the effort reaped praise from coach Glen Antonelli.
Mounties travel to Wyong next week in the VB NSW Cup while the Ron Massey Cup take on Kingsgrove and the Sydney Shield travel to Belrose.
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