Peter Mulholland Cup live stream: Matraville Sports High look to finish on a high against Illawarra

Illawarra struck early, and often, to end their 2023 Peter Mulholland Cup campaign in style to send Matraville back to the drawing board. Relive all the action from the LIVE STREAM.

Illawarra Sports High School ended their Peter Mulholland Cup campaign on a high with a convincing 38-6 win over Matraville on Thursday.

Both sides were playing for pride as they knew progression to the quarter final stage was beyond them, but the Matraville crowd definitely turned out to support their home side.

The visitors were quick off the mark, finding the tryline less than a minute in - and off their first set to boot - thanks to Leeroy Weatherall.

Lleylan Kopara scored his first of two in the first half just minutes later, as Illawarra’s lead grew to 18-0 by the break.

Harlem Peters got on the scoresheet for Matraville. Pic: Richard Dobson

Matraville showed some promise despite the scoreline and a loud crowd of locals were in full support when Harlem Peters planted the side’s only try.

The second half was much of the same for Illawarra, as Mitchell Sweet scored a brace, including a brilliant team play mid-way through the half.

With that result, Matraville end their return to the PMC fold without a win, but coach John Maher said ahead of the match wins didn’t matter so much for them, it was progression and improvement each game that was key.

“We’re learning a lot more from (the losses), and we can see that it’s putting the boys in the right direction for the years to come,” he said.

PREVIEW

It’s been a tough reintroduction to life in the NRL Schoolboys for Matraville Sports High.

Out of the competition since the end of 2019, they returned this year with optimism - but the results haven’t gone their way against tough competition.

Heavy defeats to Patrician Brothers, Fairfield and Erindale College mean they are playing for pride in their final game against Illawarra Sports High School on Thursday - and coach John Maher is confident it will be their best match yet.

Catch all of the action LIVE and EXCLUSIVE on KommunityTV from 12.30pm. See the full LIVE draw for this week’s action below.

“They’re getting hungrier, they really want to win and the school really wants to win, it’s inspiring,” Maher said.

“You can see the kids are working harder for it.”

Illawarra showed some promise during their 38-8 loss to Erindale in the opening round, and Maher said he thinks the game will be evenly matched.

“Illawarra is probably a better match for us, but we knew this year was always going to be difficult,” Maher said.

Matraville have found it tough against strong opposition so far.

“We’re crawling in the sprint, but at least we’re in the race.”

Maher said his team were still upbeat despite the lopsided scorelines.

“You’d think the boys would get deflated, but actually they’re getting more excited as it goes on,” Maher said.

“They’re working harder and harder in training. 

“We might not be getting the wins on the board right now, and we’ve had a couple of big losses, but we’re learning a lot more from that, and we can see that it’s putting the boys in the right direction for the years to come.”

“I think we’ll come out pretty strong against Illawarra.”