Boyd Killingworth drives for the line in a fiery encounter at Rat Park. Photo: Karen Watson.

by Brendan Bradford –

For all the razzle-dazzle that their backline produces, Warringah have ground out some tough victories this season. That was the case again on Saturday as the Rats kept Easts scoreless in the second half to record a two try, 26-11 win in a night game at Rat Park.

As expected, it was near freezing at Narrabeen but tempers flared throughout the heated contest as the Rats rallied from a two-point halftime deficit to claim four competition points and maintain their second place on the ladder.

Winning tough or winning ugly, whatever you want to call, it has become somewhat of a Rats trademark lately, said coach Haig Sare.

“We win, but we win ugly. I want us to walk off with a win and be happy with how we played and it’s starting to improve but it’s still not all that pretty,” he said.

“At the end of the day, it’s points on the board but we haven’t scored a bonus point in a while and that’ll be a focus now because we were lighting it up at the start of the year.”

In the thick of it. Sam Ward and Anton La Vin clash. Photo: Karen Watson.

Although the Rats sparked plenty of attacking moves, they lacked a clinical touch in the final attacking third but a weight of second half possession saw Boyd Killingworth and Marty Collins dot down while Hamish Angus kicked 16 points from the tee.

“I thought we were starting to get the ascendancy but a few things weren’t going our way and we were pushing the pass a little bit,” said Sare.

“In the second half we dominated territory and possession and to their credit, Easts defended well but I thought we left a few opportunities out there. If we look back to last year though, we might have let that one slip and we didn’t have a scrum at all but now we have one that’s giving us front-foot ball every time.”

A tough contest needs a willing opposition and Easts didn’t disappoint. The Beasties started the match on top but poor execution in the second 40-minutes left them struggling to get out of their own half.

“We played pretty well in the first half but our execution was way off in the second,” said coach Campbell Aitken.

“When you kick the ball out on the full four times, it just builds pressure and you can’t expect to play the whole second half in your own half and not concede, so the score was probably a little bit inevitable in the end.”

Considering the sheer number of tackles Easts made in the second half, limiting Warringah to just two tries is a fair effort and the youthful ninth placed side should take some confidence into the remaining matches.

“The first half was really positive and we came here with the full intention to win,” said Aitken.

Sireli Tagicakibau at his running, creative best. Photo: Karen Watson.

“We had a 19-year old and a 20-year-old making their run-on debuts in a reasonably hostile environment and they fronted up quite well. There’s a lot to take from it because these young kids are stepping up. The passion was there, the fight for the jersey was there and that’s all you can ask for.”

A pre-match fireworks display had barely ended before on the on-field fireworks kicked-off with some end-to-end stuff before one of Easts’ youngsters, Archie King, broke through some scattered defence and opened the scoring after 15-minutes. The conversion missed, but a Warwick Percival penalty ten minutes later took the Beasties out to an 8-0 lead as Warringah struggled to turn a series of promising attacking moves into points on the board in an at times fiery battle.

Sam Ward and Anton La Vin were sin-binned for their roles in an on-field all-in with Ward perhaps a little lucky to only spend ten minutes off the pitch rather than the rest of the match.

Sireli Tagicakibau made a brilliant run into the 22 and Hamish Angus converted a penalty to narrow the gap when the Easts defence was caught offside.

Angus doubled the does a minute later and added a third following an Easts three-pointer for an 11-9 halftime score in favour of the Beasties.

The home-side bolted out of the gates in second half and camped in the Easts 22 with a succession of penalties and repacked scrums but couldn’t crack the committed Beasties defence. It took 20 minutes and a steal at an Easts lineout for Boyd Killingworth to pounce for the Rats’ first five-pointer and a 16-11 lead.

Warringah maintained the pressure throughout the half and Angus added a fourth penalty as the visitors couldn’t get out of their own territory.

Lurking on the wing, Marty Collins put on a superman dive for the Rats’ second try and Angus’ perfect day from the kicking tee continued with a conversion from the sideline and a 26-11 lead.

That’s the way it stayed as the Narrabeen fog descended on a jam-packed Rat Park and players and spectators alike retreated to the warmth of the bar to revel in Ladies’ Day festivities.

The Rats travel to Penrith next weekend while Easts host Manly at Woollahra.

Warringah 26 (Killingworth, Collins tries; Angus 4 pens, 2 con) Eastern Suburbs 11 (King try, Percival 2 pen)