ATC Padua, Iona and Villa were winners after round 3 action
AIC First XIII rugby league: Iona and Padua warmed up for their bumper showdown, Villa and Laurie’s both battled out the match of round 3 while ATC rebounded to victory.
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Villanova College and St Laurence’s College battled out the match of the round on Saturday, Ambrose Treacy College rose to victory while both Iona and Padua were in winning form ahead of their showdown this weekend.
St Laurence’s College and Villanova College played out a thriller at Banyo, with Villa nudging ahead 16-10.
Defence was the theme, especially from Laurie’s No.13 Liam O’Callaghan who draped himself around legs and torses all match.
“It was an intense match with the old rivalry between the two schools which made for great watching.’’ said Laurie’s coach Paul Boase.
Jackson Connor, Nate Wallin and Hudson Bishop, who all scored tries for Villa, were their team’s best along with prop Edison Murnane.
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Ambrose Treacy College, well beaten the week before, pulled themselves together to defeat Patrick’s College 28-10.
“They say a week can be a long time in rugby league, and for us, it was just the right amount of time,” said Benjamin Marriott, director of rugby league.
“Our focus this week was sticking to structure and completing sets. With a new spine combination, the boys certainly achieved that goal.
“They stepped up well, completed their sets and made some great defensive reads. The boys should be extremely proud of themselves for todays’ performance.’’
ATC’s winning effort was led by hat-trick hero Jasper Cowie, who scored the first ever ATC First XIII try - and then two more.
Nathan Richardson also bagged two runaway tries, while Patrick Wilkins was strong in the middle with post contact metres.
Young fullback Jasper Dittmar also injected himself into the game, finishing with three try assists.
“It was a great way to celebrate our Old Boys’ Back to ATC Day,’’ Marriott said.
“We couldn’t be prouder of the boys’ efforts. They made history today that will help lay the foundations for many years to come”.
Iona College fought hard to overcome a spirited Ashgrove 22-10.
While it was not Iona’s most polished performance, their defence ensured they were never in any great danger despite a gutsy Ashgrove effort.
“It was a solid effort in defence,’’ said Iona head coach Mat Cameron.
“Ashgrove had periods on our line and we did well to hold them out.’’
Cameron said he would like to cut out the errors and execute better next week against Iona. “We will need to be a lot better,’’ Cameron said.
Three early penalties flooded possession Iona’s way and with quick play the balls flowing, prop Cooper Benvenuti scored first, and soon after five-eight Campbell Rolfe stormed onto the ball just off the ruck to score.
Tom Millard then got Ashgrove back into the game with a clever blindside run, backing himself down a narrow corridor to squeeze over in the corner. Iona led 12-4.
Iona held back big man Leota Hopa until late in the first half before he profoundly impacted the game in the second 40 minutes, crossing to score after a typical second effort run.
Down 18-4, Ashgrove continued to battle away, scoring next to narrow the margin.
But the match was wrapped up when Iona centre Connor Quinn put his giant winger Tristan McDonald over in the corner.
Iona were more physical around the play the ball with their first contact in defence, and overall Iona looked to have more players more polished and used to the heavy combat of rugby league than their rivals.
But Ashgrove were willing and courageous and never gave up.
For Iona, edge forward Deisel Hauff came onto the ball hard in the middle and tackled strongly, five-eight Campbell Rolfe looked at home at five-eight while centre Connor Quinn was dangerous running the ball.
Ethan Sampaolesi also played a tidy match off the bench for Iona College.
Ashgrove’s performance was led by hooker Jason McCall and fullback Tom Howard.
Both boys played tough in defence, and tried hard to catch out the Ashgrove defence with their runs.
At one stage Howard was stung in a shoulder injury in the second half, but in the next set of six made two important tackles that had to be made or else Iona would have scored.
McCall was exhaustive with his effort.
Padua College also had a victory over St Edmund’s College.
Padua winger Will Webster scored three tries in his team’s win over St Edmund’s, 54-4.
Unsung props Callum Rooney and George Noone were strong in the middle, and from there the team’s defence flowed.
Padua, who has a big match against Iona College next weekend, still needs to fine tune some aspects of play.
Coach Gary O’Brien would like to eliminate the number of penalties his side is giving away.
For St Edmund’s, Conrad Browne scrambled strongly and tried his heart out, while Josh Manning had a season best game with his strong carries.
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