Anthony Eltarraf
Cabe Under 16s City put on a clinic this afternoon at Jubilee Stadium, defeating Country 44-0 in a completely one-sided affair.
Given the number of errors, it was fitting that the first try came from a scrum. Payton Tarau took the line on with a show and go, breaking through the opposition line to open the scoring for City.
City then gained their stride, scoring through Thomas Aroyan who found himself on the end of some brilliant play. A devastating run by bench forward Charlie Xuereb was followed up by a brilliant offload by Altas Atilua for his winger to touch down near the corner.
Momentum was with the City side, as the following set saw the first try scorer Tarau slice through Country’s middle before finding centre Riley Rostron who scored beside the posts. Tarau’s perfect three from three conversions gave his side a handy 18-0 lead into half time.
The second half saw more of the same footy–the Country side plagued with errors, while City found their rhythm, scoring through both their wingers within the opening eight minutes of the half. Zack Fitzgerald went over on the right after some innovative play by the hosts, before Aroyan dived over from dummy half on the left edge to score his second of the afternoon.
City dominated the second half, being gifted possession and easy field position, and they took full advantage, scoring from dummy half again, this time through Caleb Leiataua who had just come onto the field. Payton Tarau proved himself a sharpshooter, converting all six tries up until this point.
The hosts didn’t let up, pushing for points until the final whistle–and finding them through a second for Zack Fitzgerald, and one for Oliver Burton, sealing City’s dominant 44-0 victory over Country.
Talking Points
- City’s five eighth Payton Tarau put on a masterclass, scoring the first try of the afternoon through a solo effort and showing signs of maturity in his game management, as well as kicking an impressive six conversions from eight attempts.
- City tormented Country’s middle throughout the entirety of the game, proving too big and too quick as they broke through on a number of occasions.
- The Country side gave themselves very little opportunity to get back in the game as ball handling errors plagued them over the full 80 minutes.
Key Moment
City came out firing in the second half, finding space on the outside in the opening set to give themselves an early opportunity to attack the opposition’s line.
After just a minute of play, the home side extended their lead to four converted tries, refusing to die with the ball and eventually finding winger Zack Fitzgerald who dived over in the right corner. The winger’s try set up the second half perfectly for City, who carried the momentum right to the final whistle.
