Vale: Terry Hill
39 mins ago | National Rugby League
The Bears effort was unquestionable, but the Roosters dominance in possession put the North Sydney side on the back foot as some positional re-shuffling weakened the Bears attack. In the first half with patches of rock solid defence from the Norths forwards, Bears half Aaron Heremaia showed a glimmer of his team's current form, unfortunately with no result. In the end the Roosters dominated the first period going to a 24-2 lead at half time. In the second the Bears Billy Ngawini was able to spark a resurgence with a try, after the Norths forwards headed by Michael Harper, Alex Chan and Tevita Metuisela bounced back to form and managed to lay a platform to work from, but the Roosters hit back with a length of the field intercept try. Lester Salanoa finished the Bears scoring off with final score 36-14 to the Roosters
After the match Coach Gary Freeman called both his team and staff into a huddle, "The effort was there from everyone the guys on field, the players on the bench the support staff the medical staff - everyone! We had a loss but, I'm telling you no one's going to beat us from here on". Pictured: Fullback John Russell
SYDNEY ROOSTERS 36 (Nigel Plum 2, Grant Rovelli, Michael Lett, Chris Walker, Daniel Dumas tries; Scott Porter 6/6 goals) defeated NORTH SYDNEY BEARS 14 (Billy Ngawini, Lester Salanoa tries; Richard Retimana 3/3 goals) at North Sydney Oval; Friday, 22nd July, 2005; Referee: Phillip Haines.
The Bears now have two matches on the road beginning with Newcastle this Saturday at Energy Stadium from 3:30 p.m.