Woodlands champions in ‘pretty gritty' display
Woodlands beat Pirates Old Boys 40-30 in an entertaining match.
POB were the minor premiership winners and started the game as slight favourites but Woodlands were confident.
Coach Richard Jones said it was a special win.
"It was pretty gritty. We were confident within our group, nice and relaxed during the week with a good vibe . . . we knew we were strong."
Woodlands started the game with a strong wind behind them but POB No 8 Hayden Hegarty, playing in his 100th game for the club, scored the first try.
Woodlands first five Marty McKenzie was the most impactful player in the opening 15 minutes, organising the attack before he showed his silky skills to glide through the defence to score his team's first points.
POB second five Napo Seru used his bulk to score the next try off a set move after 20 minutes.
The strong wind hindered goal kickers and punters early in the game. Woodlands second five Fletcher Morgan accidentally kicked two out on the full during the first 20 minutes, while the first three conversion attempts of the game were missed.
POB were defending well until Woodlands hooker Jason Rutledge used his skills in the windy conditions to throw long into the lineout, and the ball was brought down close to the line for No 8 Ethan McDonald to score in the 30th minute.
The conversion put Woodlands in front and POB coach Dayna Cunningham chose this moment to bring on replacement props Tom Jennings and JJ Fisher and loose forward Ben Keenan.
Youngster Jennings did make an impact but it was the Woodlands' teenaged left winger Reid Murray who scored the next try at the Tweed Street roundabout corner. Morgan nailed the conversion.
Right on halftime, POB were awarded a penalty in front of the posts but captain Greg Dyer backed his team to get seven points, which they did when lock Anton Schroder scored close to the posts.
Woodlands led 19-17 at the break, and while most pundits favoured POB to go on to win with the wind behind them, Jones had a different opinion.
"POB are a strong side — they threw a heap at us — but we knew if we worked hard, kept reloading and bringing the ball back into the wind then we can score points."
Ten minutes into the second half, Morgan used his bulk to barge over the top of Isaac Rounds to score and convert.
A couple of penalty goals to Dyer closed the gap to 26-23 with 20 minutes remaining.
Versatile Woodlands forward Nathan Vaatausili was next to score, and Morgan converted.
Centre Jaye Thompson then set up a try for Dye, whose conversion brought the score back to 33-30.
Woodlands patiently built up the phases before prop Brian Tyrell scored a converted try to put maximum pressure on POB, and the Woodlands defence held up for the remaining seven minutes to seal the victory.
Jones labelled the individual performances from McDonald, prop Paula Latu and halfback Liam Howley as massive.
"Our young forwards Riley Smith, Alex Yallop and Caleb Karangaroa were also great."
Reid Murray has played in the club's B team most of the season but did a good job on the wing, as did regular loose forward Justin Shaw on the other side.
— John Langford
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