January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Police handcuff Teachers to close the gap on first place
Women
Renegades 3, Mariners 1
Renegades ladies opened up with a 3-1 win against closest rivals Mariners to put them in a very strong position to retain their title.
The 'Gades have been undefeated for a couple of seasons and were looking to go this season without conceding a try, but Mariners finally crossed the whitewash against them.
It wasn't enough to snatch a win though as two tries from Melissa Field and one from Jess Gilbert was enough to secure victory. Vanessa Toet scored for Mariners.
Police 11, Teachers 0
Police and Teachers ladies were up next, with the ever improving Police side trouncing a decimated Teachers' side.
Everything seemed to go right for Police as they romped to an 11-0 win. Katie Brown led the way with four tries, Julia Mansfield grabbed a hat-trick, Lauren Wilson scored a brace, with Mika Tomita and Jill Summers scored one each.
Teachers were unfortunate with a number of players unavailable, while Police are quickly becoming a team to challenge and cause concern to the top sides.
Men
Mariners 14, Renegades 6
Next up was Mariners men looking to avenge their previous last minute defeat to Renegades. Renegades played the first half with the advantage of the wind and slope, but no matter how hard they tried, they were unable to grab a try. Darragh O'Donoghue punished Mariners indiscipline with two beautifully struck penalties, and had another good looking one chalked off by the touch-judge. Mariners had plenty of possession but strong defense and counter-rucking saw Renegades keep them at bay to lead 6-0 at the break.
Renegades started the second half brightly, however Mariners were very strong in the tackle and repelled their attacks. A strong counter-attack saw Mariners spread the ball wide and Warren Green benefitted from Steve Husbands superb draw and pass to get them off the mark. Mark Pomeroy split the uprights to edge Mariners in front 7-6. Both sides were bringing a lot of physicality to the match with huge hits being thrown in. Towards the end, Pomeroy was sin-binned to give Renegades an edge as the game drew to a close. Renegades tried to swing the ball wide from a scrum in their own '22, but it went wrong and resulted in a line-out to Mariners close to the line. From the resultant throw in, the pack drove forward and Gary Brady produced a trademark goal-line flop to touch down. Andy Boyce slotted the conversion to seal a 14-6 win, and also deny Renegades a losing bonus point.
Police 18, Teachers 0
The last match saw Teachers and Police doing battle. A win for Teachers would have put them in pole position to retain their title, while Police would close the gap with a win. It was Police who opened much stronger and a wonderful piece of play from Paull Davis set David Pringle through to score. Tommy Edwards missed the conversion but made up for it shortly after when he kicked a penalty, and then followed this up by powering over the line to grab his team's second try. Again the conversion was missed but Police deservedly led 13-0 at half-time.
Teachers were much improved in the second half, and used the wind wisely to gain territory. Shauntino Simons put two penalties successfully over to close the gap, sandwiching a disallowed try for them also. Police pushed forward again, and excellent set pieces and mauls put them deep in their opponent's territory. Another strong maul saw Gareth Edwards plough over for a another unconverted try to put the lead at 18-6. As the game drew to a close, Teachers piled forward in search of a converted try that would put them within 7 points and give them a losing bonus point. A clever chip into the corner was touched down by speedy winger Andre Landy and Simons magnificently slotted the conversion, to snatch the bonus point. The final score was18-11 to Police.
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