Mounties are back in the hunt for a top four finish in this seasons VB NSW Cup competition after a solid 24-14 victory over Wests Tigers at Aubrey Keech Reserve Hinchinbrook on Saturday.
Boosted by the late inclusion of Shannon Boyd from the Raiders, Mounties got off to a dream start when a charged down kick of Mitch Cornish was picked up by Mosese Pangai who calmly drew the defence and put Sami Sauiluma over in the corner for a 4-0 lead after Mitch Cornish's conversion went wide.
The teams settled into a battle of field position from that point with Mounties big men, Boyd and O'Donnell leading the battle up front while Kennedy, Foster and Francis Vaiotu made plenty of metres on the edges and in the 21st minute Mounties struck again when Sauiluma again found some space down the left flank to claim his second try of the day and put Mounties ahead 8-0.
In the 34th minute Mounties extended their lead to 14-0 when Jarrad Kennedy hit a nice hole off a great ball from Matt Place and smashed his way over the line next to the posts to give Cornish an easy conversion and a few minutes later Vaiotu was in when Jeremy Hawkins ran into space and drew the defence to put him away in the corner and with the missed conversion it was 18-0 at the break.
Wests remained in the hunt and immediately after the break Farlow scored to make it 18-6 after Pattison converted and two minutes later they were in again when a missed tackle saw Asipeli Fine make an uninterrupted run to the line to peg it back to 18-10 with plenty of time to go.
The next 25 minutes it was anyone's game as both teams traded sets and the game saw a degeneration of ball control and a dozen penalties but it was Wests who got the better of it when they scored out wide to make it 18-14 with the conversion again going wide which set it up for a blockbuster finish.
The game then went from end to end and just as the Tigers fans got their hopes up Mounties composure returned and they marched down field with Matt McIllrick finishing off the movement when he scooted out of dummy half and beat three defenders to score next to the posts to give Goldsmith an easy conversion and Mounties closed out the game winning 24-14.
In the Ron Massey Cup Wests led the game 6-4 early on and and maintained that lead going into half time 10-8.
Mounties briefly hit the lead until Wests regained it in the 60th minute to lead 18-14 before closing it out in the final stanza, Wests victorious 26-18.
In the True Blue Chemicals Sydney Shield Mounties led the highly fancied East Campbelltown 22-6 at half time before going on to win 38-12 with the Lahey brothers Brett and Grant both having big games on their return from injury.
Next week Mounties travel to Eden Park Auckland to take on the Warriors while on Sunday the Ron Massey Cup play The Entrance and the Sydney Shield play Hills, both away.
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