Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles suffered a 44-30 loss to Mounties in the opening round of the NSWRL Canterbury Cup competition at Lottoland
Mounties opened the scoring through Tony Satini following a Blacktown unforced error. The visitors made the most of the opportunity after being gifted with possession on the halfway mark as well as a penalty. Sam Williams was unable to convert with Mounties taking a 4-0 lead.
In the next set of six, Mounties applied pressure to the home side with Kai O’Donnell going in to score next to the posts for a 10-0 lead.
Blacktown were quick to respond with five-eighth Dylan Phythian breaking through the defensive line, finding Tevita Funa in support who quickly passed to Abbas Miski who went over to score Blacktown’s first points of the match for a 10-4 scoreline.
Mounties continued to find points with Sam Williams putting in a terrific chase, applying pressure after Blacktown misjudged the bounce allowing Williams to score next to the posts. Williams converted his try for a 16-4 lead.
Centre Tony Satini then scored his second to give Mounties a 22-4 lead.
Blacktown’s determination was evident after Brendon Elliott went over for two tries within three minutes after his team capitalised off multiple opportunities for a 22-14 scoreline at half-time.
The Sea Eagles started the second half strongly, as Brendon Elliott went over for his third try of the match. Reading the play well, he intercepted on the Mounties 40-metre line to outrun the opposition and score under the posts. The conversion was successful for a 22-20 scoreline.
Blacktown continued to show determination after going over again after capitalising off a penalty. Tevita Funa found a gap in the defensive line and went over. He successfully converted his own try to give Blacktown a 26-22 lead.
Things turned for Blacktown as playmaker and halfback Cade Cust came from the field for a HIA. A couple of minutes later, Mounties were down a player as Jack Murchie was sin-binned and didn’t return until the last couple of minutes of the game.
Mounties secured the 14-point victory after scoring four impressive tries to finish up the game. Reubenn Rennie, Kai O’Donnell, Vincent Rennie and Tom Starling went over to assist Mounties to the win.
- Match Report: Hannah McGrory (NSWRL)
