Newtown Jets snatch victory with a last-minute field goal

A field goal in the final thirty seconds of play enabled the Newtown Jets to edge out the Western Suburbs Magpies by 25-24, in the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup fixture played at Lidcombe Oval on Sunday afternoon.

The Jets had led 12-6 at half-time, and then looked to be in real trouble when they fell behind by 24-18 with less than fifteen minutes of the game remaining.

Newtown halfback Niwhai Puru kicked the winning field-goal as well as converting all four of Newtown’s tries, with one of these conversions being from wide out.

The Jets had several late team changes as a result of the run of injuries incurred by the Cronulla Sharks in their NRL match at Leichhardt Oval on Saturday night. Among the late inclusions and positional changes was the Sharks Jersey Flegg fullback Liam Ison, who was to have a particularly significant moment in the Jets-Magpies game. Second-rower Chris Slater-Raptis, an off-season signing from the Newcastle Knights, also came into the Jets line-up for Sunday’s match.

Newtown began the match in confident style, with winger Sam Stonestreet diving over in the north-eastern corner, along with the added bonus of Niwhai Puru converting the try from out near the sideline. Slater-Raptis, in his NSW Cup debut match for the Jets, pounced on a well-flighted grubber-kick by hooker Jayden Berrell to score Newtown’s second try.

The Jets led 12-6 at half-time, but the unusually warm conditions were likely to be a deciding factor in the second half. Wests scored from close range early in the second half to draw level at 12-all, but a dashing try from dummy-half by the Newtown interchange player Sam Healey put the Jets back into the lead again.

The Magpies came back strongly despite the disruption of having lost two key players through injury early in the second half. Wests levelled the scores again at 18-all in the 52nd minute, and then took the lead for the first time in the game in the 64th minute, even though they were now down to 12 men after having had a player sin-binned.

The marvellous guile and poise of the experienced Jets hooker Jayden Berrell came to the fore six minutes before full-time, when he darted out from dummy-half and broke free from several tired defenders, and then positioned fullback Liam Ison to sprint clear and score under the southern end goal posts. Young Ison’s try was certainly a memorable way for him to make his NSW Cup debut for Newtown.

Niwhai Puru’s fourth conversion had the teams locked together at 24-all, and a clever interchange of passes between Jayden Berrell and Billy Magoulias gave Puru that crucial split second of opportunity to kick the winning field goal from twenty-five metres back from in front of the posts.

While both sides had made a lot of errors in a somewhat scrappy game, the flow of play with Wests taking the lead late in the second half and Newtown’s thrilling fightback most certainly kept the crowd interested. This was the first leg of the 2024 Tom Raudonikis Cup challenge series and the one-point difference between the two teams guarantees that the second leg on the 6th of July at Henson Park will decide the trophy winner.

Newtown’s more experienced players such as Kayal Iro, Daniel Atkinson and Niwhai Puru in the backs, and Billy Magoulias, Brad Fearnley, Sam Healey and Jayden Berrell in the forwards made the vital difference in this closely-fought match between the two 1908 NSWRL Foundation Clubs. It certainly was a debut NSW Cup match for Liam Ison to remember. Newtown takes on the undefeated competition front-runners, the Canberra Raiders, next Saturday, 30th March at Henson Park at 3.00pm.

NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup
Round Three
Sunday, 24th March 2024
Lidcombe Oval
Western Suburbs v Newtown
Kick-Off: 2.00pm.

Weather: 27 degrees, sunny, partly cloudy, humid.
Playing surface: Excellent.

Referee: Martin Jones
Touch Judges: Tom Cambourn and John Woods
 

Newtown 25:
Samuel Stonestreet, Christopher Slater-Raptis,
Samuel Healey, Liam Ison tries:
Niwhai Puru 4 conversions, 1 field goal
defeated
Western Suburbs 24:
Latu Fainu, Justin Matamua, James Valevatu, Alex Lobb tries;
Alex Lobb 4 conversions.Half-Time: Newtown led 12-6.

Brent Naden (Western Suburbs) was sin-binned in the 57th minute.

The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup Wrap – Round Three
(Courtesy of the NSWRL)
Sunday 24 March 2024
A last-gasp field goal from Newtown halfback Niwhai Puru has helped the Jets snatch a 25-24 win against Western Suburbs Magpies at Lidcombe Oval today in Round Three of The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup.
The Jets were trailing 24-18 with just over five minutes remaining when fullback Liam Ison scored and Puru converted to level the scores at 24-all. Puru then stepped up to ice the field goal with 31 seconds left on the clock.
On Friday night the South Sydney Rabbitohs had a 28-12 victory over local rivals the Sydney Roosters, while Saturday’s double-header saw both the Penrith Panthers (34-10) and the Canberra Raiders (42-10) record their third-straight win to start the season.
Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles winger Watson Heleta crossed for a hat-trick in a 40-20 victory over the Parramatta Eels to kick off Sunday’s matches, while Newcastle Knights ran away with a dominant 50-12 performance at home against the North Sydney Bears.

Click here for all the NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup results.

Team Lists:

Newtown:
Fullback: Liam Ison
Wingers: Chris Vea’ila, Samuel Stonestreet
Centres: Kayal Iro, Addison Demetriou
Halves: Daniel Atkinson, Niwhai Puru
Lock: Blake Hosking
Second-Rowers: Jordin Leiu, Christopher Slater-Raptis
Front-Rowers: Rhys Dakin, Max Bradbury
Hooker: Jayden Berrell
Interchange: Billy Magoulias (Captain), Brad Fearnley, Thomas Rodwell, Samuel Healey
Reserve: Jackson Ferris
Coach: George Ndaira.

Western Suburbs:
Fullback: Heath Mason
Wingers: Solomon Alaimalo, Alex Lobb
Centres: Sione Vaihu, Declan Casey
Halves: Iverson Matai, Latu Fainu
Lock: Justin Matamua
Second-Rowers: Tony Sukkar, Asu Kepaoa
Front-Rowers: Reuben Porter, Nick Lui-Toso
Hooker: Jake Simpkin (Captain)
Interchange: James Valevatu, Brent Naden, Kit Laulilii, Josh Finau.
Reserve: Gordon Whippy.
Coach: Aaron Payne.

Match Timeline: –

First Half:
3rd minute: Samuel Stonestreet try in the north-east corner
4th minute: Niwhai Puru conversion
Newtown 6-0
18th minute: Latu Fainu try to the left of the southern end goal posts
20th minute: Alex Lobb conversion
6-all
28th minute: Christopher Slater-Raptis safely grounds a clever grubber-kick by Jayden Berrell, just to the left of the northern end goal-posts
30th minute: Niwhai Puru conversion
Newtown 12-6
Half-Time: Newtown led 12-6

Second Half:
42nd minute: Justin Matamua try close to the northern end goal-posts
43rd minute: Alex Lobb conversion
12-all
46th minute: Samuel Healey cuts through from dummy-half to the left of the southern end goal-posts
47th minute: Niwhai Puru conversion
Newtown 18-12
52nd minute: James Valevatu scores from dummy-half near the northern goal-posts
53rd minute: Alex Lobb conversion
18-all
56th minute: Brent Naden (Western Suburbs) sin-binned
64th minute: Alex Lobb try (while Western Suburbs had 12 men on the field). Wests kept the ball alive for Lobb to score in the north-east corner.
66th minute: Alex Lobb conversion.
Western Suburbs 24-18. This was the first time Wests had led at any stage of the game.
74th minute: Liam Ison try under the southern end goal-posts. Jayden Berrell had made a great 30-metres break from mid-field dummy-half and Liam Ison backed him up.
75th minute: Niwhai Puru conversion.
24-all.
79th minute: Niwhai Puru field goal (from 35 metres out in front of the southern end goal-posts).
Newtown 25-24.
Full-Time: Newtown 25 defeated Western Suburbs 24.

NSWRL TV Highlights – NSW Cup – Round Three – Western Suburbs v Newtown:

https://www.nswrl.com.au/news/2024/03/24/nswrl-tv-highlights–nsw-cup-magpies-v-jets—round-three/

Newtown Jets head coach George Ndaira post-match interview:

The Short Side with Luke Lewis – Round Three preview:

https://www.nswrl.com.au/news/2024/03/20/the-short-side-with-luke-lewis–round-three/

The NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup competition table after three rounds:

https://www.nswrl.com.au/ladder/?competition=113&round=3&season=2024

Next Saturday at Henson Park: –

NSWRL Knock-On Effect NSW Cup
Round Four
Saturday, 30th March 2024
Henson Park
Newtown Jets (in 5th place)
versus Canberra Raiders (undefeated and in 1st place)
Kick-Off:  3.00pm.

This match will be live-streamed om NSWRL TV (subscriptions required).

For subscriptions go to:  https://www.nswrl.tv/checkout/subscribe/purchase