Sugar & Spice Puts Tigers On Ice
Saturday 23rd April, 2005

Port Kembla 32 (Juita Suka, Craig Simon (2), Jesse King, Joshua Edwards, Luke Roberts Tries, Jason Sullivan (4) Goals) defeated Helensburgh 14 (Luke Ellis, Derek Short, Tim Rankin Tries; Ben Haran Goal)

Juita Suka ran rampant in the opening ten minutes of the second half to set up a Port Kembla victory over Helensburgh at Rex Jackson Oval tonight. The burly Fijian winger laid the foundation for tries in the first and fourth minutes of the second half before crossing for his own four pointer in the seventh minute, effectively putting the game out of reach of Helensburgh at 26-4.

Port went on the attack from the opening whistle, an early penalty giving them good field position to enter Tiger territory. Jason Sullivan put Suka down the right flank before the winger passed inside to Ben Carr, replacing the injured Mark Simon at halfback. Carr chipped in-field, only to hand possession over to Helensburgh.

Helensburgh went close to scoring in the sixth minute through Tim Rankin, but the big backrower lost the ball as he tried to reach out to score. Craig Simon was put through a gap a minute later, only to be called back by referee Marcus Jennett for a forward ball. Some enterprising play three minutes later saw Port advance the ball thirty metres on the last tackle before the final ball went to ground.

Helensburgh had another chance in the 13th minute of play, but some good defence by Black's winger Terry Hol resulted in the Burgh attack being forced into touch. As often happens, Port scored shortly after when Lulia Lulia, replacing Stuart Phillpott in the starting line up, made a break off a big step. Lulia sent Matthew Michalowski on his way who duly threw a well timed pass to Josh Edwards, the second rower crossing adjacent to the uprights. Jason Sullivan split the uprights with his conversion attempt and Port led 6-0 after fourteen minutes of play.

Adam Cawley was pulled down just short of Port's line in the 17th minute, the next play seeing the ball thrown into touch. They attacked the line again three minutes later, Tim Rankin the player this time pulled down by Craig Simon inches short of the line. On the final play of the set, Helensburgh's kick went dead in goal, easing Port's pressure for the moment.

It was in the 21st minute that Jason Sullivan split the Tiger's defence, drew the fullback, and kicked inside for his chasing team mates. Craig Simon was the first to the ball, touching down a metre inside the dead ball line for Port to take a 10-0 lead.

Helensburgh hit back in the 28th minute when, on the final tackle of the set, Derek Short barged his way over from close range, spinning out of a tackle to score.

The remainder of the half was a case of missed opportunities and too many pushed passes by The Blacks. Suka made a telling break from a scrum win only to pass inside to a Burgh chaser. Josh Edwards came up with a bone rattler six out from half time and then charged down a kick on the next tackle to regain possession for Port. Craig Simon got close, but threw a speculator over his head while held a metre from the line, Jason Sullivan being ruled to have knocked on while he crossed the line. Lincoln Hutchison was always in the thick of the action and he made a break three out from half time, passing inside to Ben Carr who kicked for Jesse King to chase, only to see winger Tim Lloyd clean up the ball for Helensburgh.

Inside the final minute of the half, a comedy of errors from both sides saw the teams go to the break with Port holding a 10-4 advantage.

The second half opened with the "Sugar Show". First, a thirty metre run and a quick play the ball by Suka allowed Terry Hol to scamper from dummy half and turn a ball inside to Jesse King who ran ten metres to score. Sullivan goaled and Port's lead was extended to twelve.

Three minutes later Suka was put away down the right flank, this time advancing forty metres up-field to set up Craig Simon's second try of the game. Another three minutes passed when Suka was on the end of a movement which saw him score in the corner, Port's lead now out to 22 points.

The Black's continued to hold the Tigers out. In the 12th minute they forced a change over, only to hand possession back to The Burgh on the second tackle. Helensburgh spread the ball wide and scored through Tim Rankin, Helensburgh's best on the night, Ben Haran kicking straight to reduce the margin to 16 points.

James Trotter found himself in the sin bin in the 17th minute for back-chatting Marcus Jennett. The sin-binning seemed to inspire The Burgh for a while, crossing two minutes later through Luke Ellis when he dived on a ball fumbled by both teams in Port's in goal area. It would be the last points for the Tigers. They looked to have a two man overlap in the 20th minute, but passed into touch.

Port came within five metres of the tryline two minutes later but a fumble turned possession over to Helensburgh. The Blacks threatened the Burgh's line three times in the next five minutes but came up short each time, errors becoming increasingly costly.

A movement in the 30th minute showed promise for Port, however another case of pushing an unnecessary pass resulted in a break down in play. A minute later, there was no mistake. Craig Simon stripped the ball in a one on one tackle, and on the ensuing play, Luke Roberts received a flat ball from Ben Carr to stroll over under the posts. Sullivan's conversion finished the scoring at 32-14 in favour of the Black and Whites.

While Port will be happy to come away with the two points, they will be ruing the many missed opportunities. The score could have been much worse for Helensburgh had The Blacks played with a bit more patience in attack. Too many pushed passes and some often ill-timed kicks may have shaved some points from Port's final score.

None-the-less, The Blacks move to three wins from their four starts, Juita Suka the best for Port. Michael Cross and Lincoln Hutchison returned to the starting side after a week off, although Cross took no part in the second half courtesy of a gash to the head. Luke Watts returned off the bench and had a strong game.

The test of The Black's resolve comes this Sunday against a formidable looking Collegians outfit. Fresh from the bye, Collies are widely regarded as the benchmark for the competition, and nothing but being on their game will be good enough for Port if they want to cause a boilover at Noel Mulligan Oval.

FIRST GRADE TEAMS:
PORT KEMBLA: 1.Jason Sullivan, 2.Juita Suka, 3.Matthew Michalowski, 4.Craig Simon, 5.Terry Hol, 6.Lulia Lulia, 7.Ben Carr, 8.Michael Cross, 9.Jesse King, 10.Daniel Jiminez, 11.Joshua Edwards, 12.Luke Roberts, 13.Lincoln Hutchison, 14.Oscar Ferreira, 15.Brent Douglas, 16.Luke Watts, 17.Kim August
HELENSBURGH: 1.Ben Haran, 2.Tim Lloyd, 3.James Trotter, 4.Matt Bryant, 5.Paul Smith, 6.Grant Smith, 7.Brad Streeting, 8.Jarrod Watson, 9.Luke Ellis, 10.Derek Short, 11.Tim Rankin, 12.Adam Cawley, 13.Clayton Sellings, 14.Dean Jamison, 16.Gavin Lennon, 17.Steve McCallum, 19.Shaun Murray
 

Port's play in the first twenty minutes was riddled with errors, nullifying any good work they did. The Tigers went further ahead when they caught The Blacks short down the left side, Ben Wood crossing to give an 8-0 scoreline in favour of the home side.

Port started to get their act together after having completed only one set of tackles in the first 25 minutes of play. The Blacks threatened the Burgh line in the 24th minute but a George Webb grubber was cleaned up by fullback Mitch Tope. Another Webb kick three minutes later caught The Tigers in goal, their drop-out going out of play on the full, giving Port a penalty ten from the tryline, directly in front of the posts. The quick tap put pressure on the Helensburgh defence. On the second tackle, Daniel Ryman snuck over the line wide out. Daniel Bunt converted from the sideline to narrow the gap to just two points, the halftime score remaining at 8-6 in favour of Helensburgh.

The half time speech worked wonders for Port. Luke Watts scored in the fifth, ninth and 13th minutes of the second half to put The Blacks ahead 22-8.

Thier good work was partly undone when the ball was knocked on from the kick off, allowing Helensburgh an easy try through Matt Potter. By this time, the score was 22-14 to Port, the game there to be taken by either team. It was Port who put the game beyond doubt with tries to Daniel Bunt (18th minute) and George Webb (27th minute) to extend Port's lead to 18 with eight minutes of play remaining.

Helensburgh scored with five to go through a Brent Shorten try, before Daniel Bunt set up Matt Richards to score in the 34th minute, Port running out winners 38-18.

Luke Watts was a standout in his return to the field, while "new" boy Peter Hooper was busy throughout. Daniel Bunt was a pivotal figure on his way to tallying 14 personal points.

PORT KEMBLA TEAM
1.Matt Richards, 2.Mohamad Hijazi, 3.Oscar Ferreira, 4.Nick Kosiak, 5.Troy Fleming, 6.Daniel Bunt, 7.George Webb, 8.Kayne Spinks, 9.Kane Armstrong, 10.Brent Douglas, 11.Julian Ulukita, 12.Daniel Ryman, 13.Luke Watts, 14.Brad Handcock, 16.Peter Hooper, 17.Kim August, 18.Anthony Harris, 19.Jon Koot, 20.Patrick Castle, 21.Joseph Gander
 

Port Kembla 24 (Scott Crowther (3), Kaine Edwards, Anthony Harris Tries; Aaron Griffiths (2) Goals) defeated Helensburgh 4 (Blake Woodley Try)

The first five minutes of the Under 18 fixture was an even contest, both sides trading blows and making around fifty metres on their respective sets. Jon Koot looked to go close for Port, but was brought down in a great tackle by Blake King.

A piece of Matt Nagy brilliance in the seventh minute opened Port's scoring. Nagy fielded a Tigers kick on his own twenty metre line and ran around and then through the thick of the Helensburgh defence before offloading a ball to Scott Crowther who raced thirty metres to score.

Helensburgh looked for a reply in the fourteenth minute after receiving a penalty. They made it to within two metres of Port's line before they were bundled into touch. They did level the scores in the 22nd minute through a Blake Woodley try. Eamon Hillen's conversion attempt from near the sideline hit the uprights leaving the scores locked at four a piece.

With a minute remaining, Scott Crowther stole the ball from a Helensburgh opponent after effecting a tackle, and outran the chasers for 80 metres. Port went into the break with a one try buffer.

Anthony Harris made a break in the eighth minute before passing to Ben Nagy. Nagy had support outside but elected to go in field where his progress was halted. The Blacks kicked on the fifth and caught Helensburgh in goal.

From the next set, Scott Crowther accepted the final pass to score his third try for the game. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful, but Port led by 12-4 after nine minutes of play.

Joel Court was given ten in the sin bin eight minutes later for back chat, but in his absence, Anthony Harris barged his way over the line for Aaron Griffiths to convert, handing Port a 18-4 lead.

Kaine Edwards scored with two to go to leave Port with a hard earned 24-4 victory.

After the final whistle a scuffle broke out, the resulting action by the referee seeing Port's Jamie Knick and Helensburgh's Glen McLeod sent from the field, leaving them with a possible date with the judiciary mid-week.

Port's victory against the committed Burgh outfit leaves them atop the Under 18's ladder. Scott Crowther by virtue of his three tries was a standout and was ably supported by Matt Nagy in the custodial role, and Jon Koot in the forwards.

PORT KEMBLA TEAM
1.Matt Nagy, 2.Aaron Troiano, 3.Joel Court, 4.Scott Crowther, 5.Joseph Gander, 6.Ben Purcell, 7.Aaron Griffiths, 8.Anthony Harris, 9.Burim Saliji, 10.Shane Makea, 11.Ben Nagy, 12.Jon Koot, 13.Pas Gaudiosi, 14.Kaine Edwards, 15.Rennie Carnevale, 16.Nick Henry, 17.Scott Haines, 18.Jared Stewart, 19.Jamie Knick