Competition leaders Mounties served notice that they are Sydney Shield title favourites early at Hinchinbrook last Saturday.
Things started well enough for the Eagles when winger Chris Vaotuua took a Michael Stevens bomb in the third minute to give the visitors a 6-nil lead.
It was the only time the Eagles led all day. Maika Sivo replied for Mounties with a try in the 19th minute, before a superb individual try to Brad Speechley put the home side in front.
Winger Craig Moustakas levelled the scores for the Eagles, but that was cancelled out by Jake Horton’s’ first try in the shadows of half-time to give Mounties the lead at 16-10 at the break.
Then Mounties flexed their muscle with four unanswered tries in the second stanza to win easily.
Horton completed his double on his way to a personal tally of 20 points with six goals from seven with the boot, and Sivo completed his brace as “The Mulga” blotted the Eagles out of the contest.
The Peninsula Seagulls joined Mounties on 12 points with a 26-22 win over Hills District Bulls at Crestwood Reserve, Baulkham Hills last Sunday.
After the Seagulls led 16-6 at half-time after a tight first half, a second try to winger Jeremy Marshall appeared to be putting the Seagulls in control at 20-6.
The Bulls came back to lead 22-20 with three superb tries in nine minutes as the visitors coughed up the very little ball they had in the second stanza.
However, Seagulls fullback Jake Pickering finished off a brilliant long-range counter attack which involved centre Barry McGrady with nine minutes left to regain the lead at 26-22 for the visitors.
The Seagulls then were able to hold on in defence in the closing stages to finish off their win.
Belrose Eagles joined Mounties and Seagulls on 12 points with a resounding 38-18 win over a game Cabramatta Outfit at Lionel Watts Reserve last Sunday.
The Two Blues made Belrose work for it – with tries to Luke Lavender and Jake Webb giving ‘Cabra’ an 8-4 lead after Adam Saunders opened the scoring for Belrose.
The class of Belrose Captain/Coach James Mortimer then stood up. Mortimer scored two tries at the end of great Eagles team play to have the home side up 16-8 at the break.
This lead was extended to 28-8 with two more converted tries at the start of the second half to put Belrose at arm's length.
Cabra were game and came back with brilliant second try to Lavender to draw the scores back to 28-18, before Belrose steadied with two more tries to seal their victory.
The Auburn Warriors returned to the winner’s list with a 38-24 win over a Blacktown Workers at Lidcombe Oval last Saturday.
A hat-trick of tries to Mario El Boustani, plus a double to five-eighth Jade Anderson paved the way for the Warriors’ second win for the season in the Sydney Shield – seeing them go past Cabramatta on the Shield ladder.
The Guildford Owls consolidated their position in the top eight with a solid 38-22 win over a disappointing Windsor Wolves at Windsor Sporting Complex last Saturday.
Owls prop Alec Hobbs led the way with a strong game up front and also scored two tries as the Owls posted a seven tries to four victory.
Nat Barnes got two tries for Windsor – who still have not won a game in Sydney Shield this season.
Defending Premiers Wentworthville edged out St Marys 38-30 in a try fest at Ringrose Park last Sunday.
Magpies winger Regan Rona scored two of Wenty’s seven tries as the home side had to stave off a number of comebacks from the Saints before eventually posting their second straight win.
Saints’ Fijian flyer Isoq Qionimacawa kept the visitors comebacks in the second half alive with his two tries from the five that the Saints scored.
Finally, Western Suburbs were too strong for a gallant Asquith 46-22 in the ‘battle of the birds’ at Storey Park last Sunday.
Asquith finally broke their Sydney Shield scoring drought after 343 minutes over six weeks when prop Jamin Stankovic crashed over under the posts to give Asquith a shock 6-nil lead in the third minute.
Asquith took advantage of a lax Wests attitude when they scored a second try in the first half to be down only 24-10 at the break.
When the home side scored two converted tries midway through the second half, the unthinkable was right on the cards with Wests leading only 24-22.
Wests then took advantage of a tiring Asquith to score three tries in nine minutes to put the game beyond doubt.
Mounties, the Seagulls and Belrose all have 12 points at the top of the Shield table, with Guildford and St Marys just two points behind on 10. Asquith remain anchored to the bottom of the ladder with no competition points from seven games.
This weekend sees another full round with four games on Saturday and three games on Sunday – with the top-of-the-table Peninsula Derby between the Seagulls and Belrose on Saturday Night at Forestville Oval the standout match of the round.
Triple H FM has another big weekend of coverage – starting on Saturday Night with the Sydney Shield “Peninsula Derby” between the Seagulls and Belrose from Forestville Oval at 7:30pm. Then it’s another “Super Sunday” at Storey Park between the Asquith Magpies and the Hills District Bulls - with the Sydney Shield clash kicking off at 1pm and Ron Massey Cup at 3pm. All the weekend action can be heard on 100.1FM, or via live streaming at www.triplehfm.com.au, or on the tunein app.
