BEARS JUNIORS SHOW ABILITY WITHOUT THE POLISH

13th February 2010 | by Steve Little | Back to Full List of Articles | PDF Media Release

The Junior Bears Season got off to an unexpected start on Saturday with both the Harold Matthews and S G Ball sides going down by 20 points against the Sydney Roosters at Henson Park.

The Kevin Nicholls coached Harold Matts team were dominant early with Lars Roy scoring and David Dean converting. As the first half continued however the youthful and enthusiastic Bears clearly showed the ability to get in to position to score, but were unable to finish off the job. The Roosters answered back with three tries to make the halftime score 14-6.

Within a few minutes of the first half the Roosters moved further in front 18-6 with an unconverted try. But at 7 minutes in, a great dummy pass to the right by Bears halfback David Dean allowed big Shaun Moe to barge over and score to make it 18-10 to the Roosters.

The Roosters though hit back at the 11th minute with a converted try making it 24-10 to the Roosters.

In the final 20 minutes the Bears again missed some chances at scoring through errors but were ultimately over run by the Roosters as they scored twice more to make it 34-10.

However the Bears finished as well as they started with forward Anthony Semrany scoring in the 32nd minute of the half, bringing the final score to 34-14 to the Roosters.

SYDNEY 34 (W Wright 2, J Hussey 2, D Kettule, T Milne, F Bloonfield tries, A El-Zakhem 3 goals) defeated NORTH SYDNEY 14 (Lars Roy, Sean Moe, Anthony Semrany tries, David Dean 1 goal) Halftime 14-6 Sydney.

The Matts under 18s counterparts the S G Ball side, also started well. Taking advantage of an error from the kick off, a forward pass was the only thing that stopped the Bears scoring an early try. The Bears then forced the Roosters to take a poor option as they attacked the North Sydney line and failed to score.

After 12 minutes Forward Alaa Badran burrowed underneath 4 or 5 Roosters defenders to score. But at 20 minutes in the Roosters finally broke through for a converted try, the last of the half and so the Roosters lead at halftime only 6-4.

But the promise of an even contest dissipated in the second half with the Roosters running in 3 unanswered tries with the final score 24-4 to the Roosters.

SYDNEY 24 (P Rokolati, A Fine, E El-Zabaidieh, K Te Kiri tries, K Te Kiri 3, E El-Zabaidieh goals) defeated NORTH SYDNEY 4 (Alaa Badran try) Halftime 6-4 Sydney.

The North Sydney and Newtown NSW Cup Coaches went into last night’s trial at Henson Park with conflicting purposes.

Newtown coach Greg Matterson already settled on a roster, used the opportunity to help prime their team for the 2010 Season.

For Bears coach Wayne Lambkin however it was crunch time, with over 30 players over 2 teams trialing on the night, with the cross purposes leading to a 38-6 final score over North Sydney.

“We need to make some cuts to get down to our squad quickly. We hope to be going to the Cronulla trial with about 23 players, with further cuts after that” claimed Wayne Lambkin, clearly pumped and primed for a new Season.

NEWTOWN 38 (Paul Kiely, Dylan Sharp, Brad Barrett, Richard Kambo, Chris Afamasaga, Charlie Herekotukutuku, Drew Lanston tries, Charlie Herekotukutuku 5 goals) defeated NORTH SYDNEY 6 (Sosaia Fifita try, Jarryd Hogan goal). First quarter 4-0 Newtown. Second quarter 20-0 Newtown. Third quarter 26-4 Newtown. Final quarter 38-6 Newtown.

The Junior Bears next travel to Leichhardt Oval to face the Tigers on Saturday 20 February. The North Sydney NSW Cup side will next trail against Cronulla on Sunday 21st February. Game day Details to come.