SATURDAY, 2nd APRIL, 2016
PREMIER 1 (bonus points in brackets)
Avoca Beach 30
James Latham, Luke Sheridan, Mitch Jacob tries;
Nathan Brown 3 conversions, 3 penalty goals
defeated
Woy Woy 8
Lapana Vitale try;
Alex Moore 1 penalty goal
Ourimbah 65 (1)
Brett Cunningham 2, Adam Williams 2, Dylan Gavin, Alec Dark, Steven Pike, Apisai Vatubuli, Matt King tries
Anthony Eriksson 7 conversions, 2 penalty goals
defeated
Hornsby 14
Mitch Fullager, Josh Hamnett tries;
Sam White 2 conversions
Gosford 15
Vince Stewart, Adam Howe, Josh McGlynn tries
defeated
The Lakes 10 (1)
Che O’Brien, James Burton tries
Terrigal 39 (1)
Alec Herridge 2, Dan Sargeant 2, Mitch Hirst, Declan Shepherd tries;
Alec Herridge 3 conversions, 1 penalty goal
defeated
Kariong 17
Shannon Beavan, Ryan Walbank tries;
Scott Hanley 2 conversions, 1 penalty goal
POINTS TABLE
Ourimbah 5
Terrigal 5
Avoca Beach 4
Gosford 4
The Lakes 1
Kariong 0
Woy Woy 0
Hornsby 0
Warnervale 0
PREMIER 2 (bonus points in brackets)
Woy Woy 22 Avoca Beach 20 (1)
Ourimbah 59 (1) Hornsby 5
Terrigal 27 (1) Kariong 7
Gosford 34 (1) The Lakes 7
PRESIDENTS CUP (bonus points in brackets)
Woy Woy 38 (1) Avoca Beach 7
Hornsby 20 (1) Ourimbah 0
Terrigal 17 Kariong 7
The Lake 59 (1) Gosford 0
Warnervale 22 (1) The Entrance 7
COLTS (bonus points in brackets)
Ourimbah 36 (1) Warnervale 8
Avoca Beach 50 (1) Woy Woy 0
Terrigal 19 Gosford 12 (1)
REPORT :
The 2016 Central Coast Rugby season opened with some very interesting matches. There were some close matches, and some unpredictable results.
In the Match of the Round, Avoca Beach defeated Woy Woy by 30 points to 8 at Ettalong Oval. This match was a hard fought affair with both teams having periods of success. Avoca Beach had the slightly belter of the first half and went to the break leading by 10 points to 3. At that stage the game was definitely up for grabs. The very warm conditions were adding to the extra toil of the players. In the first match of the season, and in hot conditions, players were finding things tough right across the Coast. The Avoca Beach set piece, especially the scrum, was proving very strong and they were dominating this area of play. This gave their team a huge advantage and allowed the visiting backline to get on the go forward. Avoca Beach had several good players but none were better than props Josh Meadham and Luke Sheridan, as well as forward Chad Martin. Woy Woy, because of their scrum issues, were forced to go uncontested in the match. Avoca Beach were able to score a further 20 points in the second half, while Woy Woy were only able to reply with the one try. Woy Woy hung in there, and their best players included flanker Lapana Vitale, who scored their try, as well as good performances by centre Fokolulu Taumololo, half back Zac Stride and fullback Alec Moore. Both teams will have things to work on, but it was a very noteworthy performance by Avoca Beach in the opening round of the competition.
Terrigal proved too strong for Kariong at Kariong Oval running out victors by 39 points to 17. However they certainly did not have it all their own way. In fact things looked bad for them at halftime. Kariong started the match very strongly. They raced to a 17 points to 0 lead and things were certainly looking rosy for the home side. They played some excellent rugby and were able to cross for two very good tries. Best players for Kariong at that stage were No.8 Phil Brown, centre Ryan Walbank and prop Shannon Beavan. Kariong led at the halftime break by 17 points to 5 and Terrigal had just scored on the halftime break. However the further the match went on the stronger and more dominant Terrigal became. The visitors scored 34 unanswered points in the second stanza and were clearly dominant. Terrigal crossed for 5 tries in the final 40 minutes and this was a clear indication of the flow of the match. Best players were Terrigal were Ryan Metcalfe, who started at halfback and moved to flanker, and fullback Alec Herridge who had a great game and scored 19 personal points. It was a very good win by Terrigal but also showed Kariong will be a force this year but they will realise they have to play the full 80 minutes.
The tightest match of the day was at Gosford Showground, where Gosford just got home by 15 points to 10. It was a tough physical encounter from start to finish. Gosford scored 3 tries to 2 and that was a good indicator of the flow of the match. No-one could kick goals on the day. The match certainly saw a great turnaround for The Lakes who last season struggled very much. They have acquired some fresh players and certainly had their chance to win this match. Gosford only led by 10 points to 5 at the halftime break so both teams knew they could win this one. In fact at the start of the second half, and for almost 15 minutes, the visitors were on continual attack. However good defence by Gosford kept them out. Both teams were only able to score a try apiece in the final 20 minutes to allow the home side to hang on for the narrowest of victories. Both teams will take a lot from the match. It was the first proper hit out for many of the players, and they would know they had been in a game of rugby. Best players for Gosford were No.8 Al Lock and halfback Joel Wagner, and they were well supported by hooker Vince Stewart and centre Josh McGlynn. The Lakes put in a great team performance. Their best players were their flankers Che O’Brien and James Burton who scored a try each and were very good right across the paddock. Both teams will be thereabouts this year and it all makes for an interesting competition in these early weeks of the year.
Ourimbah proved they will be a force once again this year when they easily accounted for Hornsby by 65 points to 14 at Ourimbah Rugby Park. Ourimbah are the reigning Premiers and will be most keen to keep that mantle this year. However they know all teams will come at them hard this year. Ourimbah dominated from the start, and led by 32 points to nil at the halftime break, and they then continued that dominance right through the match. Ourimbah were able to cross for 9 tries to control proceedings from start to finish. Hornsby did have some players missing on the day but it was always going to be an uphill battle. Best players for Ourimbah were their props Apisai Vatubuli and Brett Cunningham, who crossed for 2 tries, and halfback Matt King. Hornsby gave it their all, and were best served by flanker Tim Graham-Robertson, Brian Mudge, and Mitch Fullager, who scored one of their two tries. This was a good win by Ourimbah, and for Hornsby, they will get stronger as the season progresses.
In the President’s Cup, The Entrance made a real game of it at Woongarah Oval, but the home side Warnervale proved too strong and ran out winners by 22 points to 7.