No seperating Wanneroo and Nedlands in round six tug of war

Mon, Aug 10, 2020, 2:44 AM
Rugby WA Media
by Rugby WA Media

After an exhilarating 80 minutes of rugby in the Belt Up Round, Nedlands and Wanneroo remained deadlocked at 24-24 settling for the second draw of the 2020 season.

Despite taking a 19-0 head start Nedlands were bogged down by the vastly resilient Wanneroo who staged a vicious comeback to set up a memorable game on the Foreshore.

Flying out of the blocks, Nedlands winger Jake Stevens crossed for the opening try of the game after five minutes of sustained pressure from the home side.

Soaking up the celebrations of his 100th premier grade game, flyhalf Dylan Loversidge found the white line shortly afterwards carving his way under the posts to put Nedlands in a dominant position early in the game.

Trapped in their own half and with the penalty count heavily against them, Wanneroo struggled to find answers as Nedlands crossed for their third try through Rueben O'Connell after a neatly organised rolling maul.

It seemed the Wanneroo contingent were in for bleak viewing as they trailed 19-0 after barely 20 minutes, however, the ‘Roo Dogs’ steadied the ship to prepare for the ultimate comeback.

After a slow start Wanneroo began to find some rhythm and explored the Nedlands defence looking for vulnerabilities.

Front rower Andre Roux put Wanneroo on the scoreboard before half-time to inspire belief for the second half.

Wanneroo stamped their authority early in the second half to put fullback Grason Makara over the line, closing the gap to 19-12.

The slippery feet of Wanneroo winger Jordan Gratton proved to be a handful for Nedlands as he continuously left defenders in his wake.

Nedlands weren’t done yet though, producing a contender for try of the year through centre Ammon Matuauto who finished off a sparkling long-range team try from a midfield scrum.

The rampaging no.8 Aidan Laxton was once again making a habit of chomping up valuable metres and proved a handy weapon off the back of the scrum.

With time drying up on the clock Wanneroo closed the gap to 24-19, gasping their way into the final stretch.

Holding on for dear life, Nedlands couldn’t contain the stealthy Wanneroo backline as Pama Fou sliced through for the breakthrough try to seal the comeback.

A late charge from Nedlands ended in vain as they couldn’t put the cherry on top for Dylan Loversidge’s 100th match, as both sides settled for a gut wrenching draw.

 

RESULT

Nedlands 24

Tries: Stevens, Loversidge, O'Connell, Matuauto

Cons: Classen 2

Wanneroo 24

Tries: Roux, Grattan, Callan, Fou

Cons: Grattan 2

 

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