Club Rugby: Final round takes toll on premiership contenders

Warringah scrapped home, Manly and Eastwood couldn’t be split and Norths were forced to work for their win against Randwick.

Catch up on all the action from the final round of the regular season.

West Harbour 62-7 Parramatta

West Harbour finished their season on a high with a big win over Parramatta at Concord Oval.

Impressive centre Enoki Muliufi and lock Albert Tuisue both claimed doubles as the Pirates ran in 10 tries to claim a comfortable victory over their western Sydney neighbours.

Unfortunately though, the bonus point win came too late for West Harbour, who missed the finals despite losing just three matches in the first 10 rounds this year.

Parramatta will also be disappointed with their efforts in 2018 but showed glimpses of the club’s potential at times, particularly towards the back end of the season.

Warringah 40-39 Southern Districts

Warringah scrapped home by the thinnest of margins against Southern Districts to secure home ground advantage for next week’s qualifying final against Manly.

With little to play for, Southern Districts returned to their attacking best in the first half and raced away to a 31-5 lead.

After a decent half time spray, Warringah played their way into the match and hit back through forwards Luke Holmes and Manny Meafou.

Josh Holmes then found a way through from close range and when Tyson Davis scored, Warringah  led 40-34 heading into the final minutes.

In front of a strong Forshaw crowd, Souths attacked from their own end and scored after the full time siren through Denny Godinet.

Winger Christian Kagiassis had a chance to steal victory but wasn’t able to convert from the sideline and seal what would have been a fairytale victory for coach Matt Barr in his final game at the club.

Manly 27-27 Eastwood

Manly fought back from 22-0 down to salvage a 27-27 draw against Eastwood, but injuries to Sam Lane, Harry Bergelin and Alex Northam will have Marlins fans worried heading into the playoffs.

As they did in last year’s qualifying final at Manly Oval, Eastwood raced away to an early lead and scored three unanswered tries to silence the Northern Beaches crowd.

Kotoni Ale got Manly on the board in his first match back from injury before Lane and Northam both scored against the run of play to give the Marlins an unlikely lead.

Nick Holton kicked a penalty goal to give his side a 27-22 lead before Eastwood levelled things up from a well constructed driving maul.

The Woodies then had a chance to steal victory and attacked inside Manly’s quarter after the full time siren, but Blake Sutton spilt the ball, ending the match in a 27 all draw.

The result means Manly will head up the road to play Warringah in another Northern Beaches derby, while Eastwood will take on Norths in a must win clash for the Woodies at North Sydney Oval.

Northern Suburbs 36-19 Randwick 

Norths secured second spot and home ground advantage with a bonus point win over Randwick, but the Shoreman certainly didn’t have things all their own way.

After producing a near perfect performance against Easts last week, Norths started well and led 21-7 early in the second half following tries to Richie Woolf, Irae Simone and Connor Vest.

Ill discipline then crept into the Shoreman’s game and yellow cards to Vest and Nick Duffy for dangerous tackles helped Randwick fight back and score twice to reduce the deficit to just two points.

Norths fullback Sam Giltrap kicked a penalty goal to extend his side’s lead before Cam Clark and Giltrap scored late tries to seal the win in a match that was far tighter than the scoreline reflected.

Norths take on Eastwood next weekend and won’t have to play away from North Sydney Oval for the remainder of the season if they can beat the Woodies on Sunday.

Sydney University 66-21 Gordon

Sydney Uni sealed the minor premiership with a comfortable 66-21 victory over Gordon under lights at Camperdown.

The Students wore an indigenous jersey designed by player Liam Coe for the first time in the club’s history and it seemed to be a good decision early, as they scored seven unanswered tries, including one to returning Wallaby Jake Gordon, to race away to a 47-0 lead.

Gordon showed plenty of fight and scored the next three five pointers through Toby Gukibau, Sam Frankham and Kim Bateman but the result was never really in doubt.

Theo Stang and Will Cocker both scored after coming on from the bench before James Kane crossed and converted his own try to finish the evening with 21 points.

Sydney Uni will start as red hot favourites when they host Eastern Suburbs on Saturday afternoon, however the Beasties will like their chances of causing an upset after challenging Uni both times they met in the regular season.

Photo: Serge Gonzales



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