Perth-Bayswater continued to consolidate second place on the ladder, with a four point victory over Nedlands in a spiteful match at The Foreshore on Saturday. While the hard-fought win could be seen as sweet revenge for a one-point loss against Neddies’ earlier in the season, it was soured by a vicious brawl, a red card to captain Ash Murphy, and a serious leg injury to star full-back Nick Holley.
The stage was set a long time ago for this second grand final rematch of 2008, with both sides near the top of the ladder once again. Unsurprisingly, an early scuffle broke out and each team had a player sent to the bin, however, it was Perth-Bayswater who drew the first serious blood, with a try to hooker Adam Morris. The home side hit back with a penalty five minutes later – a just reward after some creative movement by the backline. In the early stages of the game Nedlands were trying to keep the ball alive at all costs, and while exciting to watch, it was causing them to lose large chunks of territory to a professional Perth-Bayswater outfit. Nonetheless, when the elusive Alvin Lau found a gap, Nedlands looked like they had their first try of match; however he offloaded the ball unnecessarily to Garth Zieglar, who fumbled and knocked it forward, denying his own side the lead. The action continued on the field, when Perth-Bayswater full-back Nick Holley had to be removed on a stretcher and taken to hospital, after a sickening injury to his right shin. But it was not all bad news for the visitors, who were doing the bulk of the attacking by the end of the first half. Five minutes before the break they extended their lead when Morris somehow scored a try under a pile of bodies – his second of the match.
Perth picked up where they left off after the break, and began to dominate the game. When Mike Lee scored next to the posts in the fourth-fifth minute the lead was sixteen points and Nedlands had hardly touched the ball. But the home side rallied, and after a well-weighted kick for touch at the mid-way point of the second half, they were able to gain some precious ground, allowing full-back to Zane Houia to score. When the tight conversion was slotted by Barry Mansfield, they had somehow wrestled their way back into the game. Now clearly playing with purpose, Nedlands began to run the ball quickly and with fifteen minutes remaining, the match was firmly in the balance. The slick Perth-Bayswater tried hard to score and seal the game in the last ten minutes, but a desperate Nedlands defended valiantly. Both sides’ frustrations climaxed spectacularly when an all-in brawl broke out during the final minutes. As a result, three players were sent off, most notably; Perth-Bayswater’s veteran Ash Murphy, who was condemned to celebrate his one-hundredth game as the sides’ captain cooling his heels. In one final twist, Nedlands cult-hero Garth Zieglar dived over to score a break-away try in injury time to cut the lead to just four points. Unfortunately for home side there were just seconds remaining and proceedings ended soon after the restart, handing Perth-Bayswater a well-deserved victory. Despite his red-card in the final stages of the game, Ash Murphy starred for the visitors, as did fly half Sam Moon, while Dan Boxer and Alvin Lau worked hard all afternoon for Nedlands.
In their coming games, Perth-Bayswater will meet cellar-dwellers Cottesloe and Palmyra; however Coach John Taylor is not getting carried away with his sides’ season.
“I’m happy with the win, we got the points, that are what we came here for, but I’m unhappy with some of the (other) things that happened” he said after the game.
Speaking on the importance of the triumph in terms of his side’s ladder position he told LMSC.com.au that “It puts ten or eleven points between us and Nedlands, because we’re second by our self, and there’s a real rat race going on down there from third to about seventh.”
The story could not be more different for Nedlands, who play 2008’s surprise packet Wanneroo and first-placed Kalamunda in their next two games, but Coach Tony Ball remains unfazed.
“It’s no different to playing in finals really, a few big games one after another. We’ve proven in the past that we can handle it” he told LMSC.com.au after the game
“We beat Wanneroo by thirty points in the first round, and we intend to go back out there and give them the same sort of treatment.”
(Courtesy Riley Stuart of www.LMSC.com.au).
| It's a try: the Black Bulldozer scores again. | Stalwarts out in force: Warren Westaway, Kevin Thornton and Les Olsen. |
| The girls are happy: Jill and Debbie don't mind beating Neddies at all. | The cheap seats: Kelly Westaway, Wayne "Japie" Campbell and Peter Westaway. |