Ninth placed Perth Bayswater have caused maybe the upset of the season beating fourth placed Nedlands 18-17 in a victory the ‘Numbats’ haven’t seen in 13 years.
By doing so Brendan Loag’s side have now proved they still have a chance to make a late season push for finals while Nedlands could have a challenging backend of the season still yet to face the competitions top sides.
The one-point victory came on a special afternoon for inside centre Kolia Konelio who ran out for his 50th premier grade game with Perth Bayswater who then went on to effect the game heavily with a late try.
The 'Numbats' got on the front foot only minutes into the fray, catching Nedlands off guard from the opening kick-off with a crafty try from outside centre Pousea Elisara.
Early field position came easy to ‘Baysie’ winning the ball off a superior scrum, thanks to the efforts of tighthead prop and RugbyWA Senior Academy athlete Dante Tatafu.
Discipline issues kept the ball in Perth Bayswater hands throughout first half despite some impressive runs from Nedlands fullback Kauri Cudd keeping Sam Rarasea’s men in the game.
The experience brought by Nedlands proved vital in getting the men in blue back out in front, through the likes of Ammon Matuauto who was able to turn over the ball and find lock Michael Egan in space to dot the ball under the post returning the lead to the match favourites.
With their tails up Nedlands took control of the backend of the first half.
Right winger Benjamin Sundborn-Carr delivered his side a cushioning lead with a try scored off the back of an exceptional 50 metre line break he made the phase earlier.
Despite a yellow card shown to lock Samuel Offer, Nedlands momentum didn’t slow carrying the team into halftime with a 5-14 lead.
The second half saw ‘Neddies’ come out strong injecting another level of intensity into their attack, bringing on backup half-back Nate Roberts.
Another penalty put the visitors further in front however discipline issues started to creep back into the game, gifting Perth Bayswater eight Faamanu Kalolo a try from the back of a scrum only five metres from the line.
The turning point would come in the game through a line-out infringement that resulted in Nedlands losing lock Samuel Offer for the rest of the match with his second yellow card.
It took a while for Perth Bayswater to take advantage of a 14-man Nedlands side with the visitors showing exceptional defence throughout.
Penalties continued to give the home team encouraging field position and the Nedlands defence would finally crack open from a quick tap penalty followed by a cut-out pass putting 150th capped Kolia Konelio in the left-hand corner.
An unsuccessful conversion meant Perth Bayswater still had worked to do, trailing by two points.
What followed was a physical tussle between both sides that eventually saw the home-team march back into their own half putting them in range of the goal posts.
A missed penalty by Jordan Luke kept Nedlands in the lead until the dying minutes of the match with the visitors managing to hold off an unrelenting Perth Bayswater attack.
However, I high tackle inside the 22-metre line would give ‘Baysie’ another opportunity to steal the game and young scrum-half Liam Wynne did not shy away from the opportunity nailing the kick that would put his team one point ahead in what would be the last play of the game.
In what is arguably the most intense matchup thus far in the Fortescue Premier Grade Perth Bayswater forced their third victory of season and in doing so breaking a 13-year drought against Nedlands Rugby Club.
RESULT
Perth Bayswater 18
Tries: Elisara, Kalolo, Konelio
Pens: Wynne
Nedlands 17
Tries: Egan, Benjamin Sundborn-Carr
Cons: Botes 2
Pens: Botes
