By Mark Cashman; Image JB Photography

GORDON V WEST HARBOUR at Chatswood Oval

It’s the sort of game that you might wake up on a sunny winter Sunday morning slightly hazy and think to yourself – did that really happen?

Gordon down 35-7 at the break and looking anything but Shute Shield contenders, staged one of the great second half comebacks to beat West Harbour.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one shaking their head and refreshing the Fusesport app around halftime on Saturday afternoon.

The score in the end finished up 40-35 in the Highlanders favour with the home side running in five tries to do what many thought was the impossible.

Players on the far side of the ground celebrated with many of the old and the bold from the Friends of Gordon when full-time was called – a stark contrast to the gesticulating of skipper Milan Basson in goal as the visitors got off to a flyer. 

Gordon went into the match on the back of a big win over Norths last weekend at North Sydney Oval but they were certainly anything but great.

First Pete Samu scored down the left edge and this was added to by Albert Alcock, Hunter Hannaford, Matt Whelan and Drew Sellers. 

It’s a shame that the halftime had to interrupt Wests while they were on a roll but the spray at the break by coach Dave Telfer must have been epic.

The Highlanders emerged from the break with added purpose you could say and managed to chip away at the lead.

But it was the yellow card to Jack Debreczeni not long into the second stanza that would prove crucial.

He was shown the “cheese” by referee Louis Trisley for repeated team infringements in the red zone and it proved crucial.

The structure and the kicking game that he brings to this West Harbour side was missed enormously and the visitors just froze in the spotlight.

Some weeks back I felt that they would knock over a big team or two on their way to the end of the season despite being in 11th place.

They were well on the way to that but it says smoothing about their development under Ben Rutherford that they got this close.

Samu, Debreczeni and Hannford have given them spark and being one man down was a killer.

The winning try came from JL Bacon who you could say delivered on the day with a hat-trick of tries.

Gordon’s philosophy under Telfer has been to score more points than the opposition but there would be some concern about the looseness in this performance.

“Da Fence” in the Shute Shield is not the nice white picket thing around most grounds, it’s being able to stop other teams in big games.

To be a true contender the Highlanders will have to tighten that up over the next couple of rounds as they ready themselves for finals.

WARRINGAH V SYDNEY UNI at Pittwater Rugby Park

There is time to fix things but there were some worrying signs for defending premiers Warringah in their 48-26 loss to Sydney Uni, the big comers in the Shute Shield over the past month or so.

The line out needs some work that may involve personnel change, the scrum was patchy and the collisions at the breakdown weren’t as crisp as coach Josh Holmes would have liked on an afternoon to forget.

But the things that struck me most after re-watching the game on Stan Sport was there was a lack of enthusiasm for the contest that has marked their game in recent times.

Uni went into this game well-prepared for what they would get from the Rats and they were able to dominate most areas of the game for the 80 minutes.

The Students defensive pressure across the board was outstanding and when the like of James McGregor, Boston Fakafanua and Bejy Joseland were given space they took it.

Fakafanua was described as the secret sauce in the Uni midfield on the match commentary and it’s hard to art against that.

He had an absolutely outstanding game and it started what must have been a pretty handy weekend for the English Premier League fan.

Fakafanua is a Tottenham Hotspur fan so his Saturday night got even better with Spurs beating Chelsea 2-1 in the Sydney Super Cup at Homebush.

His try just after the break pretty much summed up the afternoon for the Rats with the home side lazy on the inside allowing the young centre room through the middle.

We spoke of the dominance of the Uni line out from the start but it was a real eight-man effort from the fatties that laid the platform for this performance.

Tom Lambert was good, Matt Philip contributed manfully while James Mangelsdorf and Oli Harvey had great games.

There are challenges ahead for Uni in the run up to the playoffs and plenty to tinker with for the Rats.

HUNTER WILDFIRES V NORTHERN SUBURBS at Newcastle Sports Ground No.2

We’ve all been at one of those election night parties having a few refreshments and hearing the political commentators talk of the thin path to victory.

Northern Suburbs are dancing along that pathway to the Shute Shield playoffs and trying like hell not to be bumped into the hedges.

Their 44-12 bonus point win over the Hunter Wildfires kept them in range with games against Manly and Southern Districts coming up over the next fortnight.

Winning in Newcastle is never easy and as we have seen throughout the season bring big bodies to the contest and some speed out wide.

So if you don’t get what you are doing right they can punish you once they get themselves into the tree zone.

Norths attacked them with upbeat style of game helped by the presence of backrower Marshall Le Maitre and centre Nathan Russell, both missing in the big loss to Gordon the week before.

Those two along with centre Josh Barr got the visitors on the front foot and young winger Liam Dinnell made the most of things with two tries in the opening exchanges.

Dinnell debuted against Gordon with sheer weight of tries in reserve grade seeing his promotion.

He’s strong and sharp on his feet and has looked good in everything he has done in higher company.

The Shoremen’s attack at different stages this season has looked clunky but they were slick on the weekend obviously helped by the link work of Le Maitre.

The home side’s cause was not helped by a couple of yellow cards at different stages with Norths able to make the most of their numeric advantage.

The Wildfires have now lost eight of their past nine matches and after looking like shoe ins for the finals now sit in 10th 12 points out of sixth spot.

I’m sure the plan for the next two weeks will be to make the contenders life as difficult as possible.

EASTWOOD V EASTERN SUBURBS at TG Millner Field

I don’t know what Eastern Suburbs coach Ben Batger said to his side at halftime on Saturday but he should bottle it and keep it in a box for an emergency.

Easts defeated Eastwood 38-0 with all but seven of their points being scored after the halftime break.

The win keeps the Beasties at the top of the Shute Shield competition table with an eight point break on second placed Warringah with Gordon and Sydney Uni chasing.

You’d be surprised that this game produced the scoreline that it did if you watched the first 40 minutes and then tried another game on Stan Sport.

It was intense and robustly contested with referee Harry Fenton handing out three yellow cards – two to Eastwood and one to Easts.

It took until the 35th minute for the Beasties to break through when Louis Fenwicke scored out wide on the grand stand side of the ground.

Kemu Valetini converted from the side and that set things up for the halftime heart to heart with Batger.

The thing that you noticed almost immediately was that the visitors running lines had straightened ups considerably and that saw a steady stream of points.

Valetini was the first to capitalise, Reon Lowery followed shortly after and from there Ollie Dawkins and Irishman Andrew Smith joined the queue.

Easts bench was one of the major differences between the two sides with Batger able to inject fresh legs at the right time.

Woods boss Anthony Griffin doesn’t have that luxury and as the game marched on good fresh men were running over the top of good tired men.

It leaves the Woods with work to do with the playoffs two rounds away and seemingly in a pretty major hole.

And finally for those who love seeing a big man run into a robust man at speed have a look around the 20 minute mark when Easts Lowery comes together with Tom Goddard.

It’s prop heaven.

RANDWICK V MANLY at Coogee Oval

Having a “good pro” on the field can make a hell of a difference at the right time of the season just ask Randwick coach Shaun Berne after his side rattled home to beat Manly 60-35.

This was a game that was still very much a contest at the 62 minute mark but the finesse and contributions of Wallaby Andrew Kellaway proved crucial.

Kellaway has been playing fullback for the past couple of weeks for the Galloping Greens but his game nous and maturity for there for all to see on the weekend.

They weren’t overbearing or anything like that but just a good carry, great touch finder or defensive play when it was needed.

He’s apparently considering his options at the moment and from what I am hearing is keen to get on with the next part of his life.

I’m sure Berne and Randwick brains trust would love for him to shepherd this young group at Coogee Oval through a Shute Shield finals series.

May be even throw himself into a work environment, train a few nights a week and rep the Wicks on winter Saturday afternoons.

The Marlins got out of the blocks early in this one and at the midway stage of the first half were ahead 21-5 but Kellaway factor would be soon to kick in.

He scored the home side’s first try and laid on their second down the left edge with a nice back of the hand off load.

Manly did lead 21-17 at the break but there was more purpose to the way Randwick went about their work.

They got their running lines right at the right time and the tries flowed from there – a nice one to Max Moore, Kellaway again and an 80m effort that saw James Hendrern rewarded for his efforts.

The Marlins have come together in rent weeks with their major contributions coming from Billie Dickens, Calderon Neville, Dally Bird and Ollie Horne who was good off the tee.

The win sees Randwick secure in the playoffs with the Marlins still mathematically able to sneak in.

Big decisions and weeks ahead for both clubs.

SOUTHERN DISTRICTS v WS TWO BLUES at Forshaw Rugby Park

Keeping on task at this time of the season for even the best of teams is tough but the WS Two Blues managed to do that in a tough environment on Saturday.

The Two Blues travelled to Forshaw and came away with a bonus point 57-33 victory that keeps them in the hunt for a playoff spot.

They sit in eighth spot at the end of Round 16 on 41 points and are only a bonus point win away from Eastwood in sixth place with two rounds to play.

These game can go one of either two ways with the Two Blues getting the four-try bonus point within 25 minutes of kick off and then holding off the Rebels.

While they were doing all that it was pleasing to see the Two Blues continue to throw the ball around searching for the space and just playing good footy.

Travis Church has done a good job with this group and they are a much better side for Rodney Iona to run the show.

Souths did score the first try of the match but from there it was pretty one-way traffic with the Two Blues four tries and a bonus point before the home side troubled the scorer again.

The home side did come back into things in the second half but you just got the feeling that the Two Blues could come up with a try of they really needed to.

It’s been a season from hell for everyone at Forshaw but they are continuing to front up in the hope that that maiden win is just around the corner.

Blaise Barnes was again good at No.10 for the home side with Jake Douglas tolling away up front with some return.

For the Two Blues Braden Stewart was on the ball all day while the Sues brothers were well the Seuseu brothers.

Lots to like about the Two Blues outside men as well.