by Paul Cook –

A night under the lights at Rat Park is always one of the more enjoyable ways to spend an evening of Shute Shield coverage and this game was no exception, both sides eager to throw it around a bit and entertain the healthy crowd at Pittwater Rugby Park.

The Rats held sway early on, flyhalf Hamish Angus pulling the strings and cajoling his forwards around the paddock as Norths took some time to get out of the sheds. Missing the gun duo of Josh Holmes (fractured throat) and Dave Feltscheer (broken hand), the home side still looked pretty menacing with ball in hand. But for all their territory, they couldn’t quite find a way through the red and black wall.

That is, until Manessah Alaga popped up to finish off a lineout drive on 17 minutes, the young prop joining the maul to great effect as the Shoremen were splintered a tad too easily and Alaga was driven over the chalk.

Angus added the extras and as the end of the first quarter loomed, the visitors were struggling to make any headway into enemy territory. When they finally did on 20 minutes, off a rampaging run from lock James Brown, they ramped up enough pressure to earn a shot at the posts, only to see flyhalf Angus Sinclair’s attempt scuttle wide of the uprights.

However, it only took them another minute to open their account for the evening, a wide pass putting Richard Woolf away and the winger was too quick for the cover defence, giving Sinclair the chance to make immediate amends with a coolly taken conversion.

The score appeared to lift a weight off the Shoremen’s collective shoulders, and having gained a foothold in the match, they soon started to make further inroads into Warringah territory. A huge hit from Nick Palmer kick-started another surge, which led to another penalty and a 10-7 lead.

But when the Rats were pinged for playing the ball on the floor five minutes before the break – an indiscretion that earned a warning from referee Richard Goswell – an increasingly confident Norths skipper Will Miller, opted for the lineout instead of the 3pts, a call that only became truly questionable when they subsequently knocked on and came away empty handed.

No matter, a rejuvenated red and black swarm came out for the second half with a lot more conviction and belief in what they were doing, and soon had the Rats on the backfoot as they looked to build on their slender advantage. But it was the Rats who struck first, Norths pinged for not rolling away in the 47th minute and Hamish Angus didn’t need a second invitation to level the scores.

Another penalty a few minutes later, duly despatched by Angus, earned a reciprocative refs warning for Miller and his troops, and the Rats were back in front. But with the game in danger of turning the way of the hosts, Norths duly produced their best play thus far to rack up their second try.

A penalty on halfway was kicked superbly into touch for a five metre lineout by fullback Josh Kay. And when the ball came back off the ensuing maul, Angus Sinclair put the cutest of grubbers through a forest of legs and under the posts for a speeding Irae Simone to dot down.

In a see-sawing affair, momentum swung back the way of the Shoremen, and a dazzling run from Richard Woolf off a charge down, got them into the red zone once more. The forwards did the hard yards and came away with what could have been a hugely important penalty, only to see the unfortunate Sinclair step up and – to use golfer’s parlance – shank it.

But if the visitors were left ruing a missed opportunity for points, they were soon rescued by fullback Kay, who, with everyone expecting an old fashioned up’n’under followed by a kick chase, produced a superb drop goal from the Rats’ 10 metre line instead, to put Warringah a converted try behind with just under quarter of an hour remaining.

They got three of those points back from their next visit upfield, Norths drifting offside and the reliable Angus doing the honours. And spurred on by a vocal home crowd, the Rats upped the ante in the last 10 minutes to try and bring it home.

A penalty with four to go was kicked to touch, only for Norths to steal it back and clear their lines. Warringah came once more, but again they were turned over and when Josh Kay cleared upfield, a superb chase and smother from captain Miller earned his side a shot at the posts.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given Sinclair’s previous yips, it was Kay who stepped up to the plate. But with those of a red and black persuasion cheering his kick home, the ball smacked agonisingly back off the uprights and into Warringah hands, albeit with 100 metres to go in order to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

But despite their best efforts to concoct another infamous length of the field five-pointer, time caught up with them, and when Norths earned a scrum put-in and held their ball, Kay kicked emphatically into the Narrabeen sky to ensure it was the visitors who came away with the spoils.

Northern Suburbs 20 (Richard Woolf, Irae Simone tries; Angus Sinclair 2 cons, pen, Josh Kay drop goal) defeated Warringah 16 (Manessah Alaga try; Hamish Angus con, 3 pens)