Norths hooker Will Weeks takes on a posse of Pirates – Photo: Jeremy Brennan

by Paul Cook –

The battle of two of the Shute Shield’s new look teams went the way of the visitors at Concord Oval yesterday, as Northern Suburbs blew away the pre-season cobwebs in some style, downing West Harbour 32-7 to open their 2015 account with a bonus point victory.

It’s only round one so let’s not get carried away just yet, but as a statement of intent going forward, this was a pretty impressive way to open the new year from the Shoremen. The Pirates on the other hand, will need to regroup and go again next week after a performance that simply never got going.

A 10 minute period either side of the break proved pivotal, Norths turning a narrow 3pt advantage into a dominant 27-0 lead with three tries as Wests began to fall off tackles. The home side rallied though, and off the back off a scrum that improved with every engagement, they pressured enough to hit back with 7pts of their own.

But that proved to be their only points as the Red and Blacks soaked up their opponent’s best shots and killed the game with a bonus point fourth try with eight minutes to go. For new head coach Simon Cron, the effort of his players was a pleasing response to his off-season input.

“The boys did some good things out there and there’s a few things that they can learn from but I think they’ll get stronger from week to week,” he told Rugby News. “That first game is always a bit of a scare because you’re not sure whether mentally they’re going to be ready but I thought they handled themselves relatively well. You grow from win to win and success breeds success so it’s really important we now focus on next week against Warringah.”

Conversely, Wests’ Director of Rugby Joe Barakat, bemoaned a performance that gave little indication of better times ahead for the Pirates. By all accounts, they had pushed reigning Premiers Eastwood all the way in the previous week’s final trial, but on a day when they were keen to usher in a new era, things didn’t quite go to plan.

“The try just on half-time was a real turning point,” he said. “They go 70 metres, my winger does his hamstring trying to make the tackle, misses him and they go in 10-0 instead of 3-0 and then you’re into the breeze. We made a couple of small errors after the break, they score two more tries and it’s game over. We fought back into the match but we lacked any real impact with our plays or with our set-piece. We’ve got a week to fix it.”

Wests’ flanker Cohen Masson tries to make some headway – Photo: Jeremy Brennan

It was a fairly dour opening quarter, the match played for the most part in the middle third, the perhaps expected rustiness of inactivity in the heat of battle coming to the fore, as dropped ball and poor decision making prevented either side from developing anything like a head of steam or a genuine gilt edged opportunity.

Norths’ flyhalf Josh Kay finally broke the deadlock on 21 minutes, before pulling up short with a second penalty attempt a few minutes later. That failure was matched by his opposing kicker, Kiwi Kapene-Belcher, who struck the upright as he tried to level proceedings for the home side.

It took a genuine piece of artistry three minutes before the break to blow the game open, rookie pivot Kay illustrating exactly why his coach rates him so highly with two pieces of impudence to construct the first five pointer.

A lovely reverse pass released Richard Woolf down the sideline for a run and the winger carried 20 metres before returning the compliment to Kay in support. But as the flyhalf ran out of field with Wests’ defence scrambling, he pulled off another cheeky no-look reverse pass for Woolf to cut in behind on the angle and run around to the posts. Terrific stuff.

10-0 at oranges then but if Wests returned from the sheds with hopes of a swift revival, they were caught cold by the Shoremen’s intensity, coughing up two more tries and effectively the match, within eight breathless minutes.

Kay had already extended the margin with another 3pts before the Shoremen then swarmed back on the counter from the ensuing kick-off to cross for their second score. Michael O’Hea was the creator supreme, the giant Irish lock fielding the kick, finding a gap to stride over 20 metres and pop a perfect pass off in the tackle for Will Miller to run home unopposed.

With the West Harbour defence suddenly at sixes and sevens, Norths began to run it from anywhere and everywhere as the game loosened up. Seemingly finding gaps at will, it was only a matter of time before they struck again, Jordan Heyer the recipient of another nicely timed pass to mirror Miller’s effort and Kay added the extras.

At 27-0, it was always going to be a long way back for the Pirates and you worried for the eventual damage given there were still 30 minutes remaining. But to their credit, they rallied, plugged the leaks and, despite showing a penchance for too many one-out runners, finally forged some go forward ball, mainly off the back of a fast improving scrum.

Henry Seavula wrapped up by another swarm of red and black shirts – Photo: Jeremy Brennan

A yellow card just after the hour for an over-enthusiastic Miller opened the door. But when the try came, it was more a case of the Norths defence finally running out of numbers than any great attacking play from the home side, Henry Seavula going under the posts and Kapene-Belcher converting.

Despite holding sway both territory and possession wise for the next 10 minutes, the Pirates were unable to make any further inroads with the Shoremen’s defensive structure up to the task. With Miller’s return, they went back on the front foot and after Joel Brooks’ good work had thwarted one thrust, the visitors soon turned over and went again, hooker Will Weeks over in the corner for the bonus point.

And that was pretty much that until the final play after the whistle. Wests attacked, created a gap and thought they had restored some pride with a consolation try, only for the ubiquitous Miller to get his hands underneath both player and ball and hold them up. It pretty much summed up both teams’ afternoon.

Northern Suburbs 32 (Richard Woolf, Will Miller, Jordan Heyer, Will Weeks tries; Josh Kay 3 cons, pen) defeated West Harbour 7 (Henry Seavula try; Kiwi Kapene-Belcher con)