The Balmain Tigers
have moved into outright first place on the NSW Cup premiership table after they
defeated Newtown 28-16 in the deferred round 13 clash played at Henson Park on
Sunday.
The result of this match decided which of the two clubs would take the
competition leadership after 17 rounds, and it was the third time that the old
1908 Foundation Club rivals had faced off this season. Balmain had already
secured the Trevor Ryan-Neil Pringle Shield with their two previous wins earlier
this year, and Sunday's victory ensured that the Tigers would also retain the
MUA Solidarity Cup, the challenge trophy that goes on the line whenever the two
inner-western clubs meet at Henson Park.
Newtown dominated
territory and possession in the opening ten minutes but lacked the creativity
and guile to prise open the Tigers' renowned online defence. Nearing the end of
the game's first quarter, a succession of missed tackles in the Jets' backline
spelled disaster as the Tigers romped in for three converted tries. Newtown
fought doubly-hard to get back into the match and responded with two tries in
the last five minutes of the first half, one to winger Troy Savage and the
second by way of a remarkably-determined charge through a thicket of Tigers
defenders by Jets forward James Koloamatangi. Newtown trailed 18-10 at the break
but their supporters' confidence had been shaken by that barrage of Balmain
tries midway through the first half.
The Tigers increased
their lead to 20-10 through a penalty goal early in the second half, while the
Jets suffered a real body-blow after five minutes when enforcer prop Khalid Deeb
was stretchered from the field with a serious knee injury. Newtown played for a
considerable part of the match with a depleted bench which added to the team's
problems. Balmain took full advantage of a couple of critical Newtown errors
midway through the second half and increased their lead to 28-10. The match
remained an extremely physical and at times ill-tempered contest right to the
final siren, with Newtown five-eighth Ben Jones scoring for the Jets in the
game's second last minute.
Both teams had
supplied players to NSW Residents representative duties and to their NRL
partnership clubs, and while being mindful of Newtown's on-field disruption
through injuries, Balmain could probably take a bit more out of this game as a
guide to the likely outcome of any further encounter between these two sides at
the business end of the season.
Newtown's coach Greg
Matterson pointed out that the Jets had made more line breaks in this game than
the Tigers, and that Newtown's first-half defensive lapses had proven to be very
costly in what was always going to be a hard-fought match. Balmain's completion
rate of close to ninety per cent for the entire match emphasised the team's low
mistake rate and their well-drilled, methodical approach.
The Jets' man of the
match was hard-grafting front-rower Tinirau Arona, and he was well supported in
the forwards by hooker Liam Foran, prop Khalid Deeb until his untimely departure
and the powerhouse James Koloamatangi. Chris Tuatara-Morrison was the best of
Newtown's backline.
The Jets
travel south this Saturday (10th July) to take on one of the form teams of the
2010 NSW Cup competition, the Melbourne Storm. This match, marking Newtown's
first-ever visit to the Victorian capital, gets underway at Olympic Park at
3.00pm.
Balmain Tigers 28:
Willie Mataka, Rhys Curran,
Lee Bennett, Darren Nicholls, Sam Latu tries;