Local News
Roosters hand Rebels a thumping
Roosters hand Rebels a thumping
By Tim Howard
The Nambucca Roosters demonstrated why they are one top of the Group 2 Rugby League competition ladder with a 46-12 thumping of the South Grafton Rebels at McKittrick Park on Sunday.
Apart from two first-half tries, the Rebels rarely cracked a well organised Rooster defensive line and when they did find themselves in scoring positions, poor options cost them any chance to exert pressure.
The Rebels opened the scoring in the eighth minute when centre Tyler Roberts pinched the ball from his opposite number in a one on one strip and set sail upfield.
He found half back Nick McGrady looming in support and McGrady’s pass to a flying Jamal Laurie resulted in a try to the left of the uprights which McGrady converted to give his side a 6-0 lead against the run of play.
But the Roosters soon asserted their dominance with a pair of tries from kicks to five-eighth Tyreece Sines.
The Roosters equalised minutes later punishing the Rebels for a second-tackle dropped the ball coming out of their half.
Sines was a little fortunate that his kick ahead bounced off the rump of Rebels prop Grant Stevens and bounced up into his hands.
He planted the ball under the posts with three Rebels defenders desperately trying to hold him back.
The Roosters hit the front just a minute later when they brought the ball back from the kickoff.
Sines again kicked, this time finding space and regathering.
Fullback Keiron Johnson Heron and half McGrady slipped off the tackle and he found himself putting the ball down under the posts in almost the same spot he scored his previous try.
Ahead 12-6 the Rooster dominated field position and possession as the Rebels defended desperately.
But in the 24th minute the Rebels pounced in a well executed move starting in their own half.
A series of surges around the ruck carried the ball to the Roosters quarter line, where five-eighth Hugh Stanley was able to wrong foot the defence and then slip a short inside ball to prop Bailey Sinclair who crashed over under the posts.
The play was an indication of what the Rebels could achieve when they put their plays together, but it was a rare occurrence in a lacklustre effort from the home team.
The Rebels had some half chances to score in the next few minutes, but made crucial errors when on attack.
The Roosters cracked the game open in the 31st minute when they converted some extended field position.
Rebels five-eighth Hugh Stanley produced one magic break in the first half which led to a try, but for most of the game the Nambucca defence was able to keep him quiet.
Attacking down the left a short kick into the in-goal eluded the grasping fingers of fullback Johnson-Heron, but bounced perfectly for winger Beau Langford, who dived on the loose ball to score.
With minutes left in the half the Rebels tried to swing the ball to the right, but in a play that summed up their day, passes were directed behind players or found the grass and eventually the knock on came.
Down 16-12 at the break the Rebels were in the game if they could come out in the second half and show more ball control and discipline.
Instead the Rebels found themselves defending tenaciously in the opening minutes after a massive 40-20 from Rooster skipper and fullback Tyrone Roberts-Davis found touch 7m from the Rebels’ line.
There was no score for a scrappy 15 minutes, with the Roosters marginally having the better of play.
But it was the breakdown of a promising Rebels attack that gave the visitors the decisive break of the afternoon.
Second rower Brian Quinlin-Randall latched onto a loose ball and sprinted upfield.
He appeared to be hit around the shoulders in a covering tackle and Roosters centre Dane Saunders knocked the ball from his grasp.
Rebels players appealed for a high tackle penalty or a knock-on but the referee was having none of it.
Saunders sprinted away to score giving his team the vital score of the half, taking the score to 22-12.
Rebels lock Richard Roberts had been causing headaches for the Roosters and almost got on the scoreboard only to knock on as he crashed over the line.
But in the final 15 minutes the Roosters piled on the agony for the Rebels in front of their home ground, running in tries seemingly at will.
Half Logan Jones slipped through the middle of the Rebels forwards to score.
Then lock Jay Melrose ripped the defence apart with a great surge upfield. He found centre Willy Baker with short pass and he scored in the corner.
The Rebels looked shot and began falling off tackles.
Substitute winger Toby Batten crashed over in the corner and with a minute left Baker ran past some non-existent t defence to score in the right corner.
Roberts-Davis put the icing on the cake with three sideline conversions for each of last three tries.
It was not a good weekend for Grafton league teams with the Grafton Ghosts falling to Macksville 34-22 at Allan Gillett Oval, Macksville.
The home side scored six tries to four, with rugged centre Jake Martin scoring twice.
The weekend results put the Ghosts on fourth and fifth spots on the competition ladder.
On Saturday the Rebels head to Woolgoolga for a grand final rematch, although this season they find the Seahorses a spot lower than them on the competition table.
On Sunday the Ghosts host cellar dwellers, the Coffs Harbour Comets, who are yet to win a game this season.
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