PALMYRA OPENS 2014 WITH BONUS POINT WIN

Mar 30 • Australia, General News • 1895 Views • Comments Off on PALMYRA OPENS 2014 WITH BONUS POINT WIN

Pindan Premier Grade – Round One

Palmyra 43 defeated UWA 18 at McGillivray Oval, Mt Claremont

Nedlands 33 defeated Wests Scarborough 18 at The Foreshore, Nedlands

Cottesloe 27 defeated Perth Bayswater 0 at Harvey Field, Cottesloe

Kalamunda 20 defeated Wanneroo 16 at Kingsway Reserve, Landsdale

Associates – BYE

Palmyra has continued on from their excellent late season form of 2013, with a resounding 43-18 win over UWA in their opening Pindan Premier Grade match of the season at McGillivray Oval this afternoon.

Palmyra, who won seven straight matches before falling to Wests Scarborough in last year’s Minor Semi-Final, flexed their attacking muscle today with seven tries, including two each to back-rower Sean Stapleton and replacement centre Va’a Mailei.

Despite sharing top rung of the Pindan Premier Grade ladder after the first round, the win was soured by the loss of star front-rower and reigning PG Hampshire winner Joe Savage, who was carried from the ground with an ankle injury in the second half.

New Palmyra coach Brett Fell said he was very pleased with his side’s opening effort of the season.

“It’s a tremendous start,” he said. “We’ve tried to bring in a bit of a different structure this year, the boys have bought into what we’re trying to do and it’s great to be able to score tries like that straight up.

“The guys have brought a real desire to do well this year and it’s a credit to the way they’ve trained and the way they’ve got on with the job so far.”

UWA coach Steve McFarland was disappointed with the result, with his side having the bulk of possession through the first half.

“Through the first period we certainly had opportunities,” he said. “We probably let them in for a few soft tries which gave them momentum.

“There was the first 20 minutes and the middle period of the match where we didn’t have too much ball and we conceded far too many penalties, and if you incur the wrath of the referee it’s going to be a long, hard day.”

While UWA winger Aden Higo piloted home an early penalty goal, it was quickly negated when Palmyra’s Zane Butler hit a short pass off the scrum to put Stapleton over for his first try of the afternoon.

Another Higo penalty was again met with a try from the visitors when fullback Ray Moloney perfectly timed his injection into the backline when he ran onto a Tutere Waenga pass to score and take his side to a 14-6 lead.

The students clawed back the deficit on half-time when Higo and No.8 Jeremy Smith combined down a short blindside to send Mike Lees over, with Higo’s conversion bringing his side back to 14-13 at the break.

The opening 20 minutes of the second term produced a tight arm wrestle between the two sides, before Palmyra captain Hayden Baird collected a ricocheting ball to score and break the temporary deadlock.

Baird’s try kick-started an avalanche of Palmyra points, with the visitors contributing 22 points in the final 20 minutes of the match.

Having scored one of his own, Stapleton then set one up for flyhalf Sam Jurisisch in the corner, before the injection of Western Force flyhalf Dillyn Leyds and the hard-running Mailei – who crossed for both of his tries in the final 15 minutes – further lubricated the flow of points in the final quarter.

UWA responded with a final try of their own through Western Force front-rower Francois van Wyk, before Stapleton put the nail in the coffin with his second try to confirm the 25-point victory.

In today’s other matches, Cottesloe proved too strong for Perth Bayswater running out 27-0 winners; Nedlands defeated Wests Scarborough, 33-18; while Kalamunda edged out Wanneroo, 20-16.

Palmyra 43 (Sean Stapleton 2, Va’a Mailei 2; Ray Moloney, Hayden Baird, Sam Jurisisch tries; Sam Jurisisch 4 conversions)defeated UWA 18 (Mike Lees, Francois van Wyk tries; Aden Higo conversion, 2 penalties)