The Western Suburbs Magpies again established themselves as Ron Massey Cup challengers with a commanding 56-16 thrashing of the Cabramatta Two Blues at Campbelltown Stadium last Saturday.
The Magpies won the match with an explosive first half which saw Nathan Waters’ men score five tries to lead 28-6 at the break – moving Wests to third spot on the Ron Massey Cup ladder.
Inno Inosesio made the most of an early Two Blues turnover to open the scoring, before five-eighth Blake Cavallaro extended the lead to 10-nil after just 10 minutes.
Tom Morrison marked his first game of the season for the Magpies with Wests’ third try from a grubber kick in behind a nonplussed defence, before David Harris strolled through token Cabramatta resistance to make it 22-nil after 22 minutes.
Daniel Abou-Sleiman got Cabramatta’s first try after good interchange play with Daniel Haraki to get the visitors on the board, before Wests hooker Dayne Craig got his first try from dummy-half to give the Magpies their match-winning lead at the interval.
The Magpies then went on with the job with five more tries in the second half. Craig completed a hat-trick midway through the second half in his best game for the season so far. Harris added a second try, with Tala Mapesone and Matt Eisenhuth getting late tries to put the icing on the Magpies’ cake.
Ken Niko, from a quick penalty tap, and Tarek El Masri, from a short restart, got consolation tries for the Two Blues in the last 20 minutes.
Defending Premiers Mounties stayed in second place on the Massey Cup table with a convincing 38-16 win over Windsor Wolves at Windsor Sports Complex last Saturday Night.
The Mulga started well and established a match-winning 24-4 half-time lead on the back of strong games from fullback John Kennedy, halves Maurice Kennedy and Chad Porter, as well as former North Sydney Bear Steve Tavita up front.
Windsor five-eighth Aaron Farkas got an early second-half try to raise hopes of a comeback, before Mounties extended the lead to 38-10 inside the final 15 minutes with three more majors to put the result beyond doubt.
Concord-Burwood Wolves returned to their spiritual Goddard Park home with a thrilling 34-30 win over the luckless Blacktown Workers in the first of Sunday’s games.
Both big forward packs worked hard in the warm conditions which led to an 11-try thriller.
Giant Wolves second rower Kem Seru crashed over to give the Wolves the lead late in the second half, before the Wolves hung on in the face of desperate Workers attack in the closing stages for their second win of the season.
Centre Maliko Filino got two tries for the Workers – who have now lost their last three starts in Massey Cup by four points or less.
The power of Fijian flyer Luke Nadurutalo’s hat-trick of tries was enough to see St Marys pip 2015 Grand Finalists Asquith Magpies 36-28 at St Marys Leagues Stadium in last Sunday’s other game.
The Saints won the game in a burst of tries in the first 20 minutes of the second stanza - when Nadurutalo completed his hat-trick – after a relatively tight first half.
Two tries to fullback Alex O’Neil raised the hopes of a late Asquith comeback before time ran out on the Magpies.
Wentworthville head up the Massey Cup table with five wins from five starts. Mounties, Wests and the Auburn Warriors lead the chasing pack, just two points behind. The Hills District Bulls, Blacktown Workers and Kingsgrove Colts sit jointly at the bottom of the ladder on two points each.
This weekend sees a return to a full round of action, with five matches on Saturday – headlined by Mounties taking on Auburn at Aubrey Keech Reserve. Guildford and Concord-Burwood complete the round at McCredie Park on Sunday.
Triple H FM cover two double headers this weekend – Asquith v Wentworthville in both Sydney Shield and Ron Massey Cup at Storey Park from 1pm on Saturday, followed by the McCredie Park double header on Sunday. In those fixtures, Guildford clash with Belrose in Sydney Shield at 1pm before Guildford take on Concord-Burwood in Ron Massey Cup at 3pm.
Action can be heard on 100.1FM, via live streaming at www.triplehfm.com.au or on the TuneIn app.
