Winless Jets beaten in the last minute in local derby thriller
In what was the first senior rugby league match playedbetween Newtown and SouthSydney at Redfern Oval in thirty-six years, the Rabbitohs broke ahost of Newtown Jets hearts by snatching a last-minute 28-26 victory.
Redfern Oval might be known now as the Metricon HighPerformance Centre, but the two foundation clubs certainly turned on anabsorbing contest for the crowd and the Channel Nine live viewing audience.Souths led 12-4 midway through the first half but Newtown took the lead with tries to wingerRonaldo Mulitalo and hooker James Segeyaro close to halftime, with the Jetsgoing in to the break leading by 14-12.
The Rabbitohs dominated the third quarter of the gameand looked to be in control with a 24-14 lead fifteen minutes out fromfulltime. The Jets kicked back with tries to halfback Kyle Flanagan and centreAaron Gray, both converted by Flanagan. The Rabbitohs regained the ball from ashort kick-off and surged downfield towards the Newtown tryline, conjuring up atry in the last ten seconds of play aided by a couple of contentious decisions.
The Jets paid the price for several possessionturnovers at critical moments of the game, along with their inability toeffectively counter Souths’ tactic of employing short kicks from both kick-offsand goal-line drop-outs.
Centre Aaron Gray and winger Ronaldo Mulitalo wereboth impressive, while halfback Kyle Flanagan scored one try and assisted inthree others. Youngster Luke Polselli was on debut in this grade and did asplendid job as the replacement five-eighth for the injured Jack A. Williams.Despite the errors made during the game, this was a much improved performanceby the Jets which only made the circumstances of the last-minute loss moredifficult to cope with.
Newtown’s next match is on Sunday, 7thApril when the Jets play Wentworthville at Ringrose Park in Round Four of theCanterbury Cup NSW, with this game timed for kick-off at 3.00pm.