Round 11 vs Norths Match Report
by Ben Mitchell
Round 11 – GPS vs Norths
Saturday 19th June, Ashgrove Sports Ground, Yoku Road, Ashgrove
GPS return home to Yoku Road to battle it out against the Norths Eagles, coming out victorious in their round 2 matchup, 22-14. The crowd as per usual came out in great numbers and made their presence felt, cheering their Gallopers side on who sit comfortably in second place on the table.
Norths fly half Jacob Prideaux kicked the proceedings off early with a successful penalty in the 3rd minute, putting his side up 0-3.
The Gallopers responded immediately, executing a set piece from an attacking scrum 22 metres out. Chris Kuridrani delivered the ball to left winger Mitchell Treleaven who darted through a wide open gap in the Norths defence, going over untouched in the left corner. Jason Hofmeyr was able to navigate the strong winds and nail the conversion near the sideline, putting GPS up 7-3 after 6 minutes.
The next 20 minutes saw both sides go back and forth, seldom breaking the advantage line for scoring opportunities. Try scorer Mitchell Treleaven saw a yellow card in the 21st minute for a deliberate knockdown, giving Norths the advantage in attack.
Despite the disadvantage, GPS would be next to find the line in the 26th minute, as Norths came out in an interesting defensive formation at the scrum, that left fullback Patrick Nicholson wide open on the left wing. Right winger Josh Collins easily blew by his defender and dished it out to Nicholson, going over untouched in the left corner. Hofmeyr was unable to convert the try, leaving the score at 12-3 with 27 minutes gone.
Nicholson wasn’t done there, as he went over for his second try only minutes later. Centre Maaloga Konelio dived on the loose ball spilled by Norths, and popped up a nifty offload to Nicholson who was now on the right wing with the try line in sight. He blew by three defenders and dove over for the score. Hofmeyr unfortunately hit the post on this attempt, keeping the score at 17-3 after 30 minutes.
Norths would find a much needed score however right on half time, as centre Vilikesa Raboiliku received the ball from halfback Connor O’Regan at full pace, easily fending off Josh Collins and going over for his team’s first try. Sharpshooter Jacob Prideaux converted the try and narrowed the score to 17-10 at the half time break.
The Gallopers would punch back early in the second half, as Michael Richards drew in the defence and dished a timely short pass to lock Tuaina Tualima, who burst threw the guts of the defence for a try next to the posts. Hofmeyr slotted the simple conversion, taking the lead back out 24-10 with 8 minutes gone in the half.
Norths winger Kyle Foxwell was presented a yellow card in the 50th minute for a deliberate knockdown identical to Treleaven’s dismal in the first half. As a result, Josh Collins would go over for a try in the corner Foxwell was protecting, only moments later. Konelio whipped a cut out pass to Collins near the sideline, who beat the first defender with a silky stop and go move to make his way over the line. The sure footed Hofmeyr missed another difficult conversion near the crowd, leaving the score 29-10 with 27 minutes to play.
Although down a man, the Eagles would fight back, as Connor O’Regan smartly attacked the line from the penalty mark, GPS taking too long to position themselves 10 metres back. After gaining 20 metres before being tackled, he was able to pass the offload from the ground to centre Kenneth Taviri, who found acres of room in the midst of a scrambled Gallopers defence, and went over unscathed for a try. Prideaux would slot the conversion, bringing the score back 29-17, with 29 minutes remaining.
GPS took it to another level from here, as the floodgates opened up against a depleted Eagles defence. Centre Chris Kuridrani and reserve hooker Maile Ngauamo would score in quick succession to push the lead out to 41-17 with 16 minutes left. Kuridrani was the receiver of a great pass from Josh Collins to go over under the posts, whilst a little bit of trickery at the GPS lineout saw Ngauamo score in the corner.
Coach Shane Arnold rolled in the substitutions, knowing the 24-point margin was too much for Norths to overcome. Reserve winger and apparent crowd favourite Douglas Rayment capitalised on his opportunity, scoring two tries in a matter of minutes. He ran through three defenders for his first score, in front of an elated bunch of fans, appreciating his efforts. For his second, Rayment found himself on the end of an excellent line break from flanker Matt Gicquel, going over untouched for the score. Reserve fly half Sebastian Ward was unable to convert the difficult conversions on his Seniors debut, the score now reading 51-17 with 6 minutes to play.
To add salt to the wound, the Gallopers would go over for their 10th try of the match right on the 80th minute. Sebastian Ward dished the inside ball to Mitchell Treleaven, bouncing his way over the line for his second try of the match. Ward would convert the try for his first points at Senior level, concluding the game’s action with a score of 58-17, GPS coming out victorious.
Several players were instrumental in the 41 point demolition. Maaloga Konelio was in the middle of everything GPS ran at the second receiver position, earning two try assists on the day. Josh Collins was electric with his feet, beating defenders with relative ease to earn himself a try and two try assists. Tuaina Tualima and Michael Richards were both forces with ball in hand, making positive metres on each run and finding teammates with timely offloads. As per usual, Matt Gicquel was a pest at the ruck, winning two turnovers for GPS and constantly frustrating the Eagles on attack.
The Gallopers are home again next week to take on the East Tigers, looking to produce the same outstanding performance they put together against Norths. GPS will also be trying to push their win streak out to 5 for the second time this season, so come down to Ashgrove Sports Ground and cheer your side on!