Junior Reps Round Two Wrap

The Raiders Tarsha Gale Cup team faced the St George Dragons on Saturday, going down 32-20.

The Dragons got out to an early 10-0 lead before the Raiders hit back through April Downey.

Two more tries to the Dragons before half-time gave the away side a 22-4 lead at the break.

The Raiders were quick to respond in the second half, scoring the first two tries of the half through Alanna Dummett and Georgia Willey, to trail 22-14 after 45 minutes.

The Dragons and Raiders then traded tries, with Willey scoring her second of the match in the 51st minute, before a late try to the Dragons put the result beyond doubt.

Harold Matthews Cup

The Raiders Harold Matthews Cup team suffered their first loss of the season against the St George Illawarra Dragons, 32-18.

Three unanswered tries in the first half saw the Dragons take a 16-0 lead into the half-time break.

The Dragons further extended their lead soon after half-time to lead 22-0 before Jack Clutterbuck and Noah Martin scored tries in quick succession to reduce the deficit to 10 points.

The Dragons replied with another two tries, with Samuel Gash scoring in the final minutes for the Raiders.

 SG Ball Cup

The Raiders SG Ball Cup team recorded their first win of the season on Saturday, with a 22-20 win over the St George Dragons. 

The Raiders got off to a flying start, with tries to Thomas Carey, Niu Mariota and Prinston Esera giving the home side a 16-0 lead after 22 minutes.

The Dragons hit back with two tries before the break, with the Raiders taking a 16-10 lead into half-time.

The Dragons were first to score after the break to reduce their deficit to two points, before the Raiders extended their lead through a Calab Edwards try in the 48th minute.

The Dragons hit back in the 53rd minute to again trail by two points, but the Raiders were able to hold on to take the win 22-20.

After a close loss to Manly last week, Raiders coach Ash Barnes says he was happy the side was able to get the two points this week.

“It was pretty nerve-wracking, a similar situation to round one where it was a really close game. Fortunately we ended up on the right end of the scoreboard this week,” Barnes said.

“We wanted to have a strong start and lots of things went to plan around how we wanted to play and the intensity in which the guys started with was fantastic.

“Unfortunately a few little things didn’t go our way and we weren’t able to maintain that level towards the back end of the first half and the Dragons, credit to them, kept coming at us and got a couple of tries.

“It’s definitely something for us to look at and reflect upon going forward into next week, making sure we maintain our standards for the full 35 minutes of the first half.”

Barnes was impressed with co-captain Mitchell Prest as well as Bega recruit Matthew Wheatley.  

“He (Prest) played 70 minutes for a second game in a row in the middle of the field which is a really tough position to play in. He was as strong in the 70th minute as he was in the first and he’s someone that the guys really look towards. I thought he was great,” Barnes said.

“Matthew Wheatley, a young guy from Bega has been travelling down three times a week and now four with the game. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and now Saturday for games he’s been driving down. He got his opportunity on the weekend and did a fantastic job setting up one of our tries, he did a great job for us.”

Photo credit: Trisha Sullivan