Mounties have suffered a heavy defeat in round 22 of the VB NSW Cup going down to the Illawarra Cutters 42-14.
The start couldn't have been worse for Mounties with a forward pass from the kickoff gifting the Cutters field position and they scored off the ensuing set to lead 4-0 after a minute.
After a completed set Mounties found themselves behind further when missed tackles saw the Cutters go in again on the left edge and the lead was 10-0 with only six minutes gone.
Two minutes later the Cutters were in again this time down the right edge and before the ten minute mark Mounties found themselves behind 14-0.
Play then settled for a few sets and Mounties made some inroads however in the 17th minute the Cutters crossed again and it was 20-0 with Mounties shell shocked and looking to the bench for some spark.
Ryan Carr was trying his best to get Mounties back into the game and in the 26th minute he did just that was he took on the line and came out the other side to score next to the posts however the conversion by Reece Goldsmith went wide and it was 20-4.
Mounties then found some rhythm and in the 34th minute a nice backline move saw Wayne Dargan, playing in his 100th game for Mounties, crossed in the left corner to make it 20-8 after the conversion went wide again and it remained that score until half time.
The teams seemed to settle early in the second half but it was Illawarra who got the early running when they scored in the 49th and 59th minutes to put the game out of reach.
Mosese Pangai and Joe Bond combined in the 68th minute to get it to 32-14 with Bond putting in a neat grubber from dummy half for Pangai to pounce with Bond converting and after that play broke down several times with melee's breaking out on several occasions.
Illawarra were to classy on the day though and further tries in the 73rd and 78th minutes saw the score blow out to 42-14 and the final bell.
Mounties travel to Canberra next Saturday where they take on the North Sydney Bears at GIO Stadium with the match broadcast live on FOX Sports 1.
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