Rugby League Central Coast: Wrap, results, standouts from round 12

One club’s injury crisis has deepened after losing another couple of players to injury, while some of the competition’s big guns have marched on during round 12 of the RL Central Coast.

Erina maintained its lead at the top of the ladder. Picture: Julian Andrews

The competition leaders have kept their impressive start to the season going while a major contender has also maintained the pressure during round 12 of the RLCC.

Read about a wrap of the action below.

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ERINA KEEPS ROLLING ON

Erina has maintained its five-point lead at the top of the table after defeating Woy Woy 22-12 at Woy Woy Oval.

After jumping out an early lead, the Eagles always held the Roosters at arm’s length and overcame the loss of two players to injury to rack up another two points.

“We had a plan to go down there and get the two points because we know it’s not an easy place to go and enjoy your footy,” said Erina coach Dane Allen.

“We didn’t throw much at them, we just sort of ground away and just took our chances when we earned them.

“We worked our way down their end and capitalised off the back of it. We didn’t play overly well but we certainly did enough to get the win and probably also left a try or two out there as well.”

Daniel Peters was forced from the field with a nasty hand injury. Picture: Sue Graham

A fortnight after losing three players to injury inside the first half an hour, there was a sense of deja vu for the understrength Eagles, who lost forward Daniel Peters to a nasty cut to the webbing in between his thumb and index finger after just a couple of minutes.

It became worse half an hour in when centre Bailey Sigsworth pulled up after scoring Erina’s second try.

“He scored a cracker of a try but overextended while doing it and tore his hammy,” said Allen.

Despite being down two players, Erina hold control of the contest.After taking a 12-0 lead early on both sides traded tries through Beau Bovis and Riley Burke to leave things at 16-6.

And while they never ran away with the game, the Eagles did enough to keep Woy Woy at bay and

Given the club’s extended injury and absentee list, the Erina boss was pleased with his team’s ability to keep getting results.

“At the end of the day we just continue to play the same brand of footy, regardless of those blokes out there.

“We’re not playing really fancy, expansive footy; it’s just about trying to grind out this period and go set for set. It doesn’t really matter who we’ve got in there, the roles are very similar.

“So we’ve shelved a lot of our expansive footy for the time being until we get a few troops back – but we keep losing more.”

The win keeps Erina five points clear at the top of the table with a very impressive record of eight wins and one draw.

Meanwhile Woy Woy remains down in sixth with just three wins to its name so far this season.

Erina 22 (Burke 2, Fitzpatrick, Sigsworth tries; Davies 3 goals) defeated Woy Woy 12 (Bovis 2 tries; Piepers 2 goals)

KINCUMBER TOO GOOD FOR TERRIGAL

Jesse Abbott scored a double in Kincumber’s win. Picture: Sue Graham

Kincumber has extended its unbeaten run to four games and kept its place in the top four after defeating Terrigal 36-10 at Duffys Road Oval.

After a competitive first half, the Colts ran away with the game after the break to seal a comfortable victory.

Fresh from a bye, Kincumber got off to a flyer with a brilliant long-range try.

Collecting a Terrigal kick 20m out from his own line, winger Lewis Radley put on the afterburners to shoot around the outside of the oncoming Sharks defenders before charging up field and passing on to Jack Legge in support to score the opener inside two minutes.

The Sharks were stung by the early try but hit back 12 minutes in when halfback Logan Humphries put in a clever chip and chase and then went straight past Colts fullback Kyle Whitton to level things up at 6-all.

However Kincumber drew ahead again almost immediately when prop Ben Thomas burst through the line and fired a ball off to Whitton to score under the sticks.

After setting up one try, Thomas then finished the job next time, crashing over from close range to give the Colts an 18-6 lead after half an hour.

Nathan Davis was at his destructive best on the edge.

Despite conceding back-to-back tries, Terrigal was still in the contest and pulled one back through Jarrod Dann to make it 18-10 at the break.

In a marked improvement after losing their round one clash against Kincumber 60-0, the Sharks had remained within striking distance of their much-fancied rivals in the first 40 but saw their resistance falter early in the second half when Kincumber backrower Nathan Davis ran over the top of two defenders and brushed off another three with brute force to score just three minutes after the restart.

The Colts were now well in control as a quickfire double to centre Jesse Abbott stretched the scoreline out to 32-10.

Winger Cameron Davis then capped off the victory with a late try as Kincumber ran out comfortable winners.

The win extends the Colts’ strong run of recent form and keeps the team in fourth place. However with a game in hand on some of their rivals, they could jump as high as second.

Kincumber 36 (Abbott 2, Legge, Whitton, Thomas, N Davis, C Davis tries; N Davis 4 goals) defeated Terrigal 10 (Humphries, Dann tries; McLean 1 goal)

THE ENTRANCE OUTLASTS OURIMBAH

The Entrance ran over the top of Ourimbah to keep in touch with the top four. Picture: Julian Andrews

The Entrance has kept pace with the top four after defeating Ourimbah 42-16 in a high-scoring clash at Edsacc Oval.

Grant Nelson bagged a double as a bright start and strong finish helped the Tigers post a comfortable win over the Magpies, who despite the scoreline were more than competitive in patches of the game.

The Entrance started brightly and went over 10 minutes in when forward Brandon Shoveller crashed over from close range.

Next the Tigers showed their flair with an excellent long-range try.

It started when lock Troy Adams made a bust on the left edge. He offloaded the ball to winger Lachlan Maddams, who sped down the touchline and put in a grubber back inside for fullback Nelson to make it 12-0 midway through the half.

The Magpies hadn’t had much of a look-in throughout the early stages but started to work their way into the contest. Then with ball in The Entrance’s danger zone they made it count as lock Sione Vaenuku busted through some sloppy defence to halve the deficit.

The try was the beginning of a frenetic period that saw the game go from end to end.

After forcing an error out of Ourimbah, The Entrance re-established its lead when some smart work from Haydn Green put Nelson over for his second.

James Maloney was in the thick of things for Ourimbah. Picture: Sue Graham

However Ourimbah hit back almost immediately. After regathering the ball from the kick-off, fullback Daniel Bell followed up on his own grubber for an excellent solo try to make it 16-10.

The visitors had closed the gap but the Tigers ensured they had the final say of the shootout, with some sharp work from winger Michael Zakhia putting Haydn Ritchie over for the game’s fourth try in just seven minutes to put the side up 22-10 at the break.

Looking for a try to once again get within striking distance, Ourimbah thought it had scored just 90 seconds after the restart through James Maloney, only for the former NRL star to be penalised for double movement.

The Magpies had started the half well and went close shortly after through Vaenuku.

The team was enjoying good field position until it was penalised for taking out The Entrance’s Haydan Ritchie after a kick in general play.

Lachlan Bell crossed for a late try for the Tigers. Picture: Julian Andrews

With a fresh set on their opponents’ line, the Tigers took full advantage thanks a rampaging Simon Pati to streak out to an 18-point lead with 22 minutes to play.

And while Ourimbah winger Blake McDonald went over in the corner to bring things back to within two converted tries, a penalty goal and late tries to Lachlan Bell and Michael Zakhia sealed what turned out to be a comfortable win for the Tigers.

The victory keeps the side in fifth, however with a game in hand it could surge into the top four. Meanwhile Ourimbah remains in eight place with two wins and seven losses.

The Entrance 42 (Nelson 2, Shoveller, Ritchie, Pati, Bell, Zakhia tries; Green 5 goals, Ritchie 2 goals) defeated Ourimbah 16 (Vaenuku, Bell, McDonald tries; Bissaker 2 goals)

TOUKLEY TOO GOOD FOR BERKA

Blake Carter scored a try in his 50th first grade game for Toukley. Picture: Sue Graham

Toukley has maintained its place in second spot on the ladder after accounting for Berkeley Vale 28-6 at Darren Kennedy Oval.

The Hawks had five different tryscorers as they overcame a sluggish opening to post a comfortable victory.

“We started pretty slow. We made a few uncharacteristic errors but then we built into the game pretty well,” said captain-coach Jake Fitzpatrick.

“Once we got good field position we dominated the game a bit.”

But despite only conceding one try and walking away with a 22-point victory, the skipper said the performance was far from perfect.

“We probably left four tries out there in the first half and then another four in the second half. When you look at the scoreline it was obviously in our favour but it could have been a lot better.”

In what was a clash between second and last on the ladder, it was actually the underdogs who broke through when Berkeley Vale half Joshua Farmilo scored the opener.

The Hawks remain in second place on the ladder. Julian Andrews

However the Hawks began to take control of the contest and hit back with a try to forward Blake Carter, who marked his 50th first grade appearance for the club with a four-pointer.

Shortly after Corey Willmott went over to put the home side ahead 12-6.

Toukley continued to enjoy good field position and although they didn’t capitalise on all their opportunities they did cross through Harrison Cash and Jarrod Kessler to stretch things out to 22-6 before Scott Fitzpatrick put the cherry on top with a late try to secure the convincing win.

The victory keeps Toukley in second place, equal with Wyong but five points behind leaders Erina, while Berkeley Vale remain in ninth.

Toukley 28 (Carter, Willmott, Cash, Kessler, S Fitzpatrick tries; J Fitzpatrick 4 goals) defeated Berkeley Vale 6 (Farmilo try; Austin 1 goal)