Tallon Smith
The Berry-Shoalhaven Heads Magpies broke a run of seven straight defeats with a 26-18 victory over the Warilla-Lake South Gorillas at Cec Glenholmes Oval on Sunday afternoon.
Having last won back in round six against Nowra-Bomaderry, the Magpies lost successive games to Kiama, Stingrays, Shellharbour Sharks, Milton-Ulladulla, Gerringong, Jamberoo and Albion Park-Oak Flats, before breaking the two-month drought last weekend with the exact same scoreline they defeated the Gorillas by in round five at the Berry Showground.
Tha Magpies opened up an early 10-0 lead with tries to Tukaha Kyriacou and Joel Etherington, before the Gorillas hit back twice in seven minutes through Tobi Rosewarn and Samson McAllister-Wood to take a 12-10 lead into the break.
However, the home side’s lead was short-lived, with Berry hitting back with three quick tries to Noah Watson, Sam Hood and Sonny Jamieson on the other side of the break to open up a 26-12 lead.
Benjamin Askew’s try with 15 minutes remaining re-ignited the contest, but the Magpies were able to hold their nerve and close out the game for a fifth win of the season.
Magpies President Joe Rogers said it was pleasing to return to the winners’ circle after a tough stretch following a promising opening to the season.
“It’s been a little while between drinks for our first grade boys, they got four out of their first six, and sort of dropped a couple in a row there, so it was nice to get one,” he said.
“The scoreboard was closer than probably what it was I feel, we scored three tries early in the second half, didn’t kick any goals, you kick one or two of those, [it’s] very hard for them to come back, but they got one late and made a real game of it in the end.
“Our boys threw the ball around a little bit more, attacked a little bit better, and it was good to see them get a win, they’ve been trying hard.”
Despite fielding one of the youngest teams in the competition by age, the Magpies are poised to jump more than three places on their finishing position from last season, with the side sitting in sixth place in the first grade competition.
While the team remains an outside prospect of playing finals, trailing fifth-placed Kiama by four points with four rounds to play, Rogers said simply being in contention for the playoffs is a strong result for the club.
“Finals is always a goal, but it’s a pretty far reach for our side now, [but] finishing sixth, that would be a massive year for us,” he said.
“I think we’ve had games this year where we have had an average age of under 22, there’s a lot of 18, 19, 20-year-old guys playing, and it’s a long year when you’re young.
“To finish sixth, or thereabouts, it will be a massive achievement for a really young team and a local team too.
“We’re stoked with how the boys have held in there, the good teams this year are really good, and being so young, if we can get anywhere near that five [or] six position, it will be a successful year for us to build on into next year and into the future.”
Making up a large percentage of the first grade side are members of the side’s under 18 premiership team from last season, which demonstrates the growth potential of the Berry-Shoalhaven Heads club in future seasons.
Among that cohort, Rogers said three players have stood out this season, making immense contributions to the Magpies’ campaign.
“Tyson Walker is always good for us, he gets a lot put on his shoulders to steer the team around and basically score or set up the majority of our points, so he’s been super impressive,” Rogers said.
“We’ve got two young guys Joey Bailey and Will Brandon who play in the middle, they are only 18, 19, and Joey’s sometimes playing 80 minutes in the middle against really big, physical teams, and he holds his own, and Will comes off the bench and gives us a lot of impact.
“Between those three, they are all members of our under 18s premiership-winning team last year, and I think now we’ve worked out there has been nine of those guys from that team last year that have debuted in first grade this year, so they are punching above their weight.”
Looking at other results from across round 14, Gerringong did it easier than their golden point victory against the same opposition in round five with a 22-6 win over Stingrays, while Albion Park-Oak Flats remains unbeaten after a 44-8 defeat of Jamberoo, the Sharks beat Nowra-Bomaderry 30-18, and Kiama made it back-to-back wins 66-6 over Milton-Ulladulla.
