Live stream: Bass v Erindale, Holy Cross v Central Coast in week 2 of Peter Mulholland Cup finals

Central Coast piled on the points in the wet, Erindale was a little more conservative, but equally as effective. It sets up an intriguing Peter Mulholland Cup qualifying final double header. Check the REPLAYS.

Erindale College toughed out an intense Peter Mulholland Cup elimination final by downing Bass High 18-8 to advance to the next stage.

With the field chopped up from the previous fixture, both Bass High and Erindale looked to power their way through the middle, with both forward packs throwing everything but the kitchen sink at each other.

Eventually something had to give, and it was a piece of individual brilliance as Erindale’s Yuri Hromow broke through five attempted tackles to run 30m and produce one of the most barnstorming efforts of the competition to date.

That inspired the boys from the ACT into action with Jonah Anderson putting through a little grubber that was dropped by Bass High fullback Ali Karnib, with Mitch Marin there to swoop on the loose ball and push the margin out to 12.

With time winding down Bass needed something to take into the break, and it was Matthew Barakat who came up with the goods. He put in a cross-field chip onto the chest of Nelson Lau, who found Solomone Tupou on his inside to get them back to within eight at halftime.

Just as Bass High needed to continue its momentum, they lost the ball on the second tackle of the half.

Jacob Mau-Pohiva came out of the sheds as a man possessed, taking three runs in that set that saw it end with a line dropout.

Then the big front rower opened the game up with a big charge from close range, barging over defenders to help Erindale take an 18-4 lead.

From then it was a slog between the two sides with tensions threatening to flare up on more than one occasion.

Erindale had multiple chances to land the killer blow, but to Bass High’s credit, the defence held staunch to remain some hope inside the final 10 minutes.

Their resoluteness paid off with Nelson Lau cutting it back to 10 with less than four minutes to play, but that was as close as they would get.

Holy Cross Ryde v Central Coast Sports College - Peter Mulholland Cup semi finals

CENTRAL COAST BLAST PAST HOLY CROSS

Central Coast Sports College has moved to within a game of the Peter Mulholland Cup final after an emphatic 36-6 defeat of Holy Cross Ryde at Kirkham Oval.

Testing conditions and pelting rain made possession a valuable commodity and a completed set of six like gold early on, with neither side able to fire a shot.

As both teams battled through, it was a break in the 14th minute from Central Coast centre Brendan Cousens that opened the game up.

He sprinted down the sideline to give his school their best territory of the game, and a few tackles later Caleb Fesolai got it one off the ruck to power his way over from close range.

Moments later Holy Cross had their best chance of the game after a Samuel Mardini run inspired them. Christian Mardini put in a grubber out of dummy half, but Jarrod Kanaan couldn’t take clean possession with the line wide open.

Central Coast worked their way downfield and had a chance to extend the lead, but a strong tackle forced Dayne Jennings to fumble possession before touching down.

They didn’t have to wait long to push the margin out to 12. Holy Cross spilled the ball from the 20m optional restart and Josiah Fesolai got on the end of a lovely offload from Blessing Foini to score.

Holy Cross had an early set on Central Coast’s line to start the second half, but they couldn’t produce points and were soon punished with Isaac Fotu-Moala taking benefit from a quick play the ball to run 40m out of dummy half.

Chaice Bayley continued his flawless goalkicking form by slotting it from out wide, and by the time Jennings broke through two defenders to run 90m and score, Central Coast had an unassailable advantage at 24-0 with 16 minutes remaining.

Just for good measure they put on another long-range effort, this time with Cousens making a break out of dummy half, finding a flying Samisoni Talakai down the wing, who in turn had Bayley on his inside for the halfback to score to take his personal tally to 14 points.

PREVIEW

Count out Bass High at your own peril.

That they are still alive in the second week of Peter Mulholland Cup finals owes plenty to a never-say-die attitude.

“No matter the scoreline, the boys always stick for each other,” said captain Ali Karnib.

“We’re a tight pack, a good brotherhood and the boys will never let their guard down for the whole 60 minutes.”

Catch all of the action from finals week two of the Peter Mulholland Cup LIVE and EXCLUSIVE on KommunityTV at Elderslie Park on Wednesday.

Bass High face Erindale College, while Holy Cross Ryde kick off the day against Central Coast Sports. The winners progress through to the preliminary finals, where Patrician Brothers Blacktown and Endeavour Sports lie in wait. The losers are done for the season.

Bass enter the clash with their Canberra-based rivals full of confidence after their 50-32 win over Hunter Sports High in the elimination finals.

Down 20-10 at halftime, Bass scored seven tries in an incredible second half resurgence.

Bass High skipper Ali Karnib.

It followed on a gutsy final round victory over St Dominic’s College. Needing to win by 11 points to qualify for the finals, Bass absorbed plenty of pressure to eventually emerge 36-22 victors.

Skipper Karnib said there are no lingering doubts in his side.

“We’re ready,” Karnib said.

“We’ve never been better and we’re ready to go and get it.”

Erindale coach Ashley Barnes drew plenty of positives from his team’s 30-16 qualifying final defeat to Pats Blacktown.

“I think we can gain a lot of confidence even in a beating against a really good side like Pats,” Barnes said.

“A lot of the boys that came in for that match had never played on a level like this before, so they’ll grow off that.”

“There were a lot of simple areas where we just didn’t meet (Pats) physically.

“They got a couple of easy tries off scrums and there were a couple of really unfortunate errors.

Kayden Kanaan said Holy Cross have quickly moved on.

“But for me, those are quite easy to fix, it’s just a tactical adjustment of figuring out where the boys need to be.

“We just have to make sure that we get our ruck right, so we’re meeting sides physically through there.”

Meanwhile, Holy Cross Ryde will be looking to bounce back after their humbling 52-6 qualifying final loss to Endeavour.

Fullback Kayden Kanaan said although it was a devastating loss, the boys now need to focus on Central Coast.

“We’ve just got to move on,” Kanaan said.

“It’s just another game of footy and we’ve got to deal with it and onto the next one.”

Holy Cross have come a long way from their 2023 season, where they lost all three pool matches by substantial margins.

“I’m very happy with where we’ve come from last year,” Kanaan said.

“But the job is not finished, we have to come out and do it again.

Josiah Fesolai leads Central Coast into battle against Holy Cross.

“We’re not out yet, we’ve still got another chance.”

Reaching week two of finals is hugely impressive for Central Coast Sports in just their second year of competition, and captain Josiah Fesolai said they’re often underestimated.

“Being from the Central Coast, we’re always an underdog story,” Fesolai said.

“But we’ve got the whole Coast behind us, so there’s nothing really to lose.

“We’re still building, we’ve got younger boys coming through and still doing well so we’re really building for that.”

PMC SEMI FINALS TEAM LISTS

BASS HIGH V ERINDALE COLLEGE

Bass High

1. Ali Karnib, 2. Paul Henry Johnson, 3. Solomone Tupou, 4. Wesley Papalii-Afoa, 5. Nelson Lau, 6. Elijah Tu’ifua, 7. Matthew Barakat, 8. Simione Laiafi, 9. Aaron Keppie, 10. Jerome Goddard, 11. Itula Seve, 12. Pheonix Godinet, 13. Tylah Slate, 14. Hassan Rabaa, 15. Jordan Vandermade, 16. Jerome Gargoles, 17. Caleb Malaki Ahloo, 18. Josiah Fifita, 19. Jonah Sega, 20. Joseph Emery, 21. Fouad Turkmani, 22. Ahmed Hawat. Coach: Jon Wilson

Erindale College

1. Troy Codey, 2. Kruger Roach, 3. Henry Hudson, 4. Luke Tuialii, 5. Mitch Marin, 6. Jamie Cowling, 7. Jonah Anderson, 8. Billy Hollands, 9. Mitch Brophy, 10. Jacob Mau-Pohvia, 11. Byron Cahill, 12. Yuri Hromrow, 13. Samuel Green, 14. Lucas McPherson, 15. Jack Milne, 16. Dempsey Woolf, 17. Cooper Lascock, 18. Jack Leighton. Coach: Ash Barnes

CENTRAL COAST SPORTS COLLEGE V HOLY CROSS

Central Coast SC

1. Cooper Dean Potaka, 2. Joshua Fesolai, 3. Brendan Cousens, 4. Dayne Jennings, 5. Samisoni Talakai, 6. Isaac Fotu Moala, 7. Chaice Bailey, 8. Christian Pasikala, 9. Lachlan Simpson, 10. Devonte Vaotu’ua, 11. Caleb Fesolai, 12. Jake Sanday, 13. Josiah Fesolai, 14. Ryan Takapua, 15. Cooper Gibbs, 16. Blessing Foini, 17. Samuel Tracey, 18. Jack Dean Potaka, 19. Bailey Vaeau, 20. Fletcher Sommerville. Coach: Paul Franze

Holy Cross College

1. Kayden Kanaaan, 2. Samuel Mardini, 3. Jarrod Kanaan, 4. Jope Rauqe, 5. Chris Moala, 6. Finn Kusto, 7. Matthew Fakhr, 8. Brandon Lawandos, 9. Isaac Kusto, 10. JP Katal, 11. Kasinga Noa, 12. William Stone, 13. Max Elias, 14. Christian Mardini, 15. Taj Mailei, 16. Daniel Rafferty, 17. Cohen Davis

Originally published as Live stream: Bass v Erindale, Holy Cross v Central Coast in week 2 of Peter Mulholland Cup finals