Rugby League Central Coast: Wrap, results, standouts from round 14

Catch up with a wrap of the action below.

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THE ENTRANCE PULLS OFF 2025 FIRST

An outstanding defensive performance has seen The Entrance hand Erina its first defeat of the season as the Tigers recorded a hard-fought 12-6 victory at Erina Oval.

Time and time again the visitors forced errors out of the defending premiers in attacking positions as they overcame an early deficit to pick up a crucial two points and move into the top four.

“It was a huge defensive effort,” said The Entrance coach Jarod Hamer.

“Erina have been the benchmark, they’ve been in the grand finals the last three or four years and they deserve the respect – they’re a great football side. But we wanted to challenge ourselves and show the competition that we are still here and a part of it. And I thought we really took that on.

“We spoke about how our dee (defence) had to be on and how points would come if we stuck to our defensive structures, and it panned out that way.”

Rather than a dramatic shift in tactics or defensive structures, Hamer said the victory was built on a tweak in the team’s mentality and attitude.

“There’s 80 minutes of football, not everything’s going to go your way but we still need to get a voice and get energy around each other, whether it be for good or bad things – and we’ve really been emphasising that over the last couple of weeks and we really set a standard for this game,” he said.

“We looked like a really tight group out there and that’s how we’re building. Things can go our way if we stick together.”

Heading into the game with a remarkable six-point buffer at the top of the table, Erina got off to a dream start when a penalty with its second use of the footy helped the team up field and a shift left put winger Noah Owens over out wide after just six minutes.

The Eagles had the early momentum and enjoyed plenty of ball in dangerous territory. However The Entrance muscled up in defence and were able to turn its opponents around.

An intercept by Tigers centre Adam McInnes snuffed out another attack and helped the team up field before a penalty gave the visitors a fresh set.

Two plays later they went left and stripped Erina for numbers as winger Harrison Mulligan scored to level things up at 6-all midway through the first half.

And although the Eagles had the better of field position late in the half they struggled to break through and the sides went into the sheds even at halftime.

After weathering an Erina storm late in the first half the Tigers showed their ruthlessness shortly after the restart, with a penalty helping the team up field and some nice work from hooker Haydn Green putting Shaun Sinclair over under the sticks to give the side a 12-6 lead.

Despite the try, the match followed a similar trajectory to much of the first half, with Erina enjoying the better of possession and field position but struggling to execute and create clear-cut chances.

And while errors from The Entrance invited danger, the team’s defence kept standing up as the pressure saw Erina force passes and make handling errors.

Winger Noah Owens went closest for the ladder leaders late in the contest but the Tigers held on for a crucial victory that sees them move up into third place in what is a congested battle for the top four.

As for Erina, it remains well clear at the top of the table with a four-point buffer despite the defeat.

The Entrance 12 (Mulligan, Sinclair tries; Mulligan 2 goals) defeated Erina 6 (Owens try; Douch 1 goal)

CLINICAL TOUKLEY CLICKS INTO GEAR

Toukley has bounced back from a disappointing last start loss with arguably its best performance of the season as the Hawks defeated local rivals Wyong 28-0 at Morry Breen Oval.

Last year’s grand finalists were particularly ruthless as they completely shut out the Roos and ran in five tries of their own to take an important step in the race to qualify for the semi-finals.

“We turned up with the right attitude, we warmed up really well,” said captain-coach Jake Fitzpatrick.

“The first half was really, really good: we were really positive in the way we played our footy, we defended really well, defended our errors, just pushed up in numbers when we had the ball – everything kind of clicked. It was literally just because of the commitment, that was it.”

The visitors got off to a strong start as some excellent defence frustrated Wyong and tries to Scott Fitzpatrick, Aaron Heaven and Isaac Aukoko gave the side a healthy 14-0 lead at the break.

Toukley then continued the job after the break, with another two tries to Harry Cash and Jye Tudehope capping off an excellent performance.

The victory came on the back of some uncharacteristically inconsistent form from the Hawks, who entered the game having lost two of their previous three matches.

While the 18-4 loss to an understrength Erina side in round 11 triggered some honest conversations within the group, last week’s 24-14 defeat at the hands of Kincumber saw Fitzpatrick take a different approach to motivating the team.

“I spoke about an honestly session we had and I thought that it was something that we were maybe heading in the right direction with but I was obviously wrong.

“We went down to Kincumber and just lacked a bit of commitment. So for the first time in five years I probably hurt a couple of egos and just called people out on their commitment and things like that.

“We were at a bit of a fork in the road: we could have chosen to head down the path of, ‘Let’s just roll through and see what happens’ or commit to each other from here on in and that’s all that was – they just chose the right path, it was good to see.”

He added: “It’s not something that I like doing but I kind of felt that we were in a position where the ladder was too tight for us to take shortcuts. We probably never really have taken shortcuts, so this was all new to me as well. It was the first time I had to do it, and as much as I didn’t like doing it, I’m glad I did.”

Indeed, the two points may also prove crucial in the race for semi-final positions, with Toukley maintaining its spot in fourth, two points ahead of the Roos.

Toukley 28 (S Fitzpatrick, Heaven, Aukoko, Cash, Tudehope tries; J Fitzpatrick 4 goals) defeated Wyong 0

WOY WOY GO BACK TO BACK

Woy Woy has won back-to-back games for the first time this year and kept its finals hopes alive in the process after defeating Terrigal 36-18 at Woy Woy Oval.

Cameron Moran continued his strong tryscoring form with two while Zane Wilesmith also picked up a double as the Roosters ran in seven tries to three in the win.

“We were more or less in control all game but some bad decisions meant that we leaked a couple of soft tries late,” said coach Blake McLean.

“But it’s the same story as what’s been happening all year. We played with 15, we had to get a couple of players to back up from reserve grade. It’s all hands on deck at the moment.”

Although pleased to get the two competition points given the club’s injury crisis, McLean said that his team will need to improve if it is to make a late charge for the top four.

“Terrigal try hard but they’re just a young team. I think they’ll be a good side in a couple of years if they all stick together,” he said.

“We just had a bit too much from them but we were still far from where we wanted to be. We’ll need to improve this week coming up against Ourimbah. We’re slowly starting to get a few players back and should have a few this week.”

McLean paid tribute to fullback Hemi Knebel, who was once again outstanding for Woy Woy with the number one on his back.

“Hemi was by far our best. He’s been one of our best all year and he had a good game against his old club.”

In a game that followed a trend consistent of Woy Woy fixtures this year, the teams traded tries early on before the Roosters took control and ultimately went into halftime up 16-6 thanks to back-to-back tries to Knebel and Wilesmith.

Winger Wilesmith then picked up his second early in the second half to extend the lead to 16.

And while Terrigal’s Logan Humphries went over to bring things back to 22-10, tries to Moran and Jake Hardman put the game beyond reach.

The victory continues Woy Woy’s mid-season revival in the competition, with the team having won three of its last four games and four of its last six to sit in sixth place on 10 points.

The Roosters are currently six points behind fourth-placed Toukley, with the RLCC decision to strip the team of two competition points for fielding a suspended player earlier in the season complicating their efforts to qualify for the finals.

Woy Woy 36 (Wilesmith 2, Moran 2, Horo, Knebel, Hardman tries; Piepers 4 goals) defeated Terrigal 18 (Rosemeyer, Humphries, Dann tries; Webber 2 goals, McLean 1 goal)

KINCUMBER CLOSES GAP AT THE TOP

Kincumber has cut Erina’s lead at the top of the table to four points and extended its own unbeaten run to six games after defeating Berkeley Vale 30-10 at MacKillop Oval.

After a competitive first half the Colts really ran away with the contest after the break, with debutant Sam Flakus, centre Jesse Abbott and winger Cameron Davis all bagging doubles as the team scored seven tries to two.

In a clash between second and last placed, it was the underdogs who struck first when a nice blindside play put Samuela Yalisaya over for Berkeley Vale.

Kincumber forced an error out of the Panthers from the kick-off and then enjoyed three back-to-back sets on the visitors’ line. But despite the pressure, the Panthers’ defence held firm.

Despite their possession and field position, the Colts had been made to wait by the resilient Berkeley Vale side.

However their resistance was broken midway through the half when winger Cameron Davies busted through the line and charged up field with a powerful run, before the team shifted left and some nice hands from Nathan Davies put winger debutant Flakus over in the corner for a dream start to his first grade career.

While Berkeley Vale continued to be competitive and had some chances of their own, Kincumber took a decisive advantage late in the half.

Some nice second-phase footy created some space for centre Jesse Abbott to go over before a penalty in the next set helped the side up field and Josh Staling went scored to give the Colts a 12-6 lead at the break.

While the contest was competitive in the opening 40, the sheer weight of possession seemed to take its toll on Berkeley Vale after the break as the Colts dominated.

Kincumber was causing all sorts of troubles down the right edge as Cameron Davis and Abbott went over to stretch the lead out to 14.

Flakus was then put over for his second in the left-hand corner before Davis crashed over to complete his double.

The only blight on the Colts was their goalkicking, with the team failing to convert any of their first seven attempts, which were admittedly all right from the sideline, to keep the scoreline at 28-6.

The team did finally land one when Joshua Brown slotted a penalty goal from right in front, which drew arguably the biggest cheer of the day from the McKillop Oval fans.

And while Ro Buaserau scored a late consolation for the Panthers, Kincumber ran out comfortable winners to solidify its place in second.

Following Erina’s loss, the Colts are just four points behind the Eagles with a game in hand. The team appears to be hitting its straps by picking up five wins and a draw in its last six matches.

Kincumber 30 (Flakus 2, Abbott 2, C Davis 2, Starling tries; Brown 1 goal) defeated Berkeley Vale 10 (Yalisaya, Buaserau tries; Farmilo 1 goal)

Originally published as Rugby League Central Coast: Wrap, results, standouts from round 14