Match details
3.00 pm, Saturday, 11 June 2011
Morrie Breen Oval, Wallarah Rd, Wyong [Gorokan]
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Injuries finally catch up with plucky Jets
Newtown's depleted player ranks eventually caught up with the Jets at Wyong on Saturday when they went down 24-12 to the Central Coast Centurions, the Newcastle Knights NSW cup partnership club.
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Game as it happened via texts from Morrie Breen
The following texts tell the tale of the game - they were sent by a passionate Newtown supporter to another equally passionate supporter who was out of town.
"Half-time - Centurions 10 Jets 0. Two more Cabramatta players called up to the Jets team because of injuries.
"Ground is coming up in chunks. Isaac Maliota injured his knee after 10 minutes on field. Hard tackles."
"Chris Afamasaga just binned for 10 minutes. Centurions 16-Jets 0."
"Johno scored next to post. We score short-handed."
"We scored but not sure who. Behind 12-20."
"Centurions score in last 35 seconds. Final score 12-24."
"Blake Lazarus injured. Isaac bad cork. Johno favouring one arm. Ref got man of the match!"
And from another supporter, slightly more philosophical comments
"Well, the boys tries very hard - but as you know, lost 12-24. Five tries to two, but we were in it when there were still three minutes to go.
Ref wasn't particularly good but our boys made simple errors such as turning their backs after the penalty, letting kickoffs go into touch and continually chatting the referee. I think we were marched 10 metres three times and we had a player binned.
All up it was like watching another team dear to our hearts - spirited in defence but pedestrian in attack. Plus we had already used our get-out-of-gaol cards!"
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The Jets had staged three upset victories in the past three games despite the heavy injury-toll in the both the Newtown and Sydney Roosters rosters, but more enforced changes to Saturday's team ultimately proved to be too much for the valiant Jets line-up.
First-half defence load cruels Jets' chances
The Centurions had 92 plays with the ball in the first half compared to Newtown's 52 and the heavier Jets defensive workload told against Newtown later on, while lost possession, penalties and a lack of discipline at critical moments made Newtown's task that much harder.
The Centurions led 10-0 at halftime and scored their second try almost on the siren after an extended period in possession. As the half continued, the Jets only had a few chances where they might have clawed their way back into the game.
Coach's assessment
Coach Greg Matterson was quick to acknowledge his players' toughness and bravery but said they needed to play smarter as well.
Newtown's forwards had taken the contest right up to the huge Centurions pack but the home team clearly had the advantage in size and speed against Newtown's reshuffled backline.
This road trip has been one of Newtown's tougher assignments in recent seasons and last Saturday proved to be no different.
An indication of the effects of this season's injury toll on both the Roosters and Newtown's campaigns is that no fewer than nine of the Roosters' 17-man squad to play the Melbourne Storm on Monday night have played in the NSW Cup with Newtown at some stage earlier this season.
Match summary
Newtown 12 [Johnathon Ford, Trent Trotter tries; Brett Lane 2 goals.]
CVentral Coast Centurions 24 [5 tries, 2 goals]
Half-time: Centurions led 10-0.
Next game
The Jets will regroup this week and make ready for their second trip to Brookvale Oval this season, when they play the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles on Saturday, 18 June. This 15th round NSW Cup fixture gets underway at 3.00pm.
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