Jets ride luck v Bears

The Newtown Jets held on to narrowly defeat the North Sydney Bears by 22-16 in the VB Premier League match played at Henson Park on Saturday. The game finished on a controversial note with the Bears having a try disallowed late in the game that would have led to the match finishing in a draw.

The Jets had led 18-0 midway through the first half and had to pull out all stops in a gruelling second half when the Bears dominated both possession and field position. The Newtown players found the going tough in the swirling winds and bitterly cold playing conditions against a team desperate to stay in the finals race. Newtown?s best were forwards Mickey Paea, Luke Gordon and Daniel Dumas, with five-eighth Josh Lewis once again outstanding in attack and defence. Lewis saved a try in the second half when he gave start to and ran down a Bears player who was in the clear and certain to score. Skilful Jets centre Lelea Paea was primarily involved in Newtown?s first try scored by Mitchell Pearce but unfortunately Paea was forced off with a knee injury early in the first half and will miss several more games.

In the Jim Beam Cup match played at Belrose on Sunday, the Jets came from 14-0 down with only ten minutes remaining to grab a 14-all draw, literally in the final seconds of what was an exciting game. Newtown?s lack of discipline in conceding penalties had cost them dearly throughout the match and the Jets were probably glad to settle for the one competition point gained through the late draw. Newtown?s best forwards were Ritchie Parker and Khalid Deeb while Andrew Le Breton and Anton La Vin were the best of the Jets backline.

The Newtown Jetettes winning run came to an end when they were well beaten by the Redfern All Blacks 30-10 on Saturday. In Group 11, the Parkes Spacemen stayed in finals contention when they won a thriller against last year?s premiers Narromine 40-36 at Pioneer Oval.

Both Newtown Jets teams are in action in critical matches at Henson Park this Saturday (June 10th). The Jets play the Sydney Bulls in the Jim Beam Cup at 1.15pm, while Newtown takes on the strong Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks team in the VB Premier League main game at 3.00pm.