Newtown Rugby League Football Club - Established 1908
Rd22 - Another two critical competition points to the Jets [44-16]

The Newtown Jets made sure of the two competition points on offer when they defeated Manly-Warringah 44-16 at Brookvale Oval on Saturday.

The Sea Eagles might be out of finals contention in the VB NSW cup this season but they had staged a couple of upsets in recent weeks.

The Jets trailed 6-0 early in the match but replied with five tries in the remainder of the first half to lead 22-6 at the half-time break.

Solid first half start carried through

Jets centre Adam Henry maintained the form that had fans spellbound in the previous weekend's win against Balmain. Henry scored two tries in the first half against Manly and claimed his third in the second stanza.

No doubt the Roosters senior coaching staff have noticed his classy and confident displays in the last two weeks.

At half-time Newtown coach Greg Matterson urged his players to maintain their dominance and not to start playing touch football. He emphasised the competitiveness of the NSW Cup competition table and the need to maximise the team's points for and against differential.

The Jets doubled their score in the second half and only wayward goal-kicking prevented Newtown from running up well over 50 points.

The Jets had dominated possession in the first half but the marginal letdown often associated with a big lead saw the possession stats even up in the second half.

Player performances

Mose Masoe breaks line and finds support from Isaac Liu and Mark Kheirallah.
Photo courtesy of Gary Sutherland

Newtown's most impressive players were the heavy artillery brigade - giant forwards Mose Masoe, Saulala Houma, Lama Tasi, Josh Ailaomai and Andrew Pearn.

Masoe had delivered some deft off-loads in his past two appearances with the Jets and again showed the creative side of his game at Brookvale on Saturday.

Houma has been a revelation since joining the Jets squad mid-season and he wrought havoc in the midfied at Brookvale.

Jack Bosden set his usual high standard in defence while Daniel Mortimer and Adam Henry were the best of Newtown's backs.

Match summary

Newtown 44 [Adam Henry 3, Daniel Tupou, Mark Kheirallah, Francis Vaiotu, Daniel Mortimer, Jack Bosden, Saulala Houma tries; Mark Kheirallah 2, Jack Littlejohn 2 goals
Manly Sea Eagles 16 [3 tries, 2 goals]

Half-time: Newtown led 22-6.

Officials: Referee, Zbigniew Przeklasa-Adamski; Touch Judges, John Woods and Richard Daizli.
Playng surface: Excellent. Weather: Fine and mild.

Next game

The Jets next assignment is always one of the marquee occasions of the VB NSW Cup season.

The Newtown club travels across the Harbour Bridge for the third successive week, this time taking on top of the table North Sydney at one of Rugby League's most picturesque grounds, North Sydney Oval.

Friday night's match will decide the winner of the Frank Hyde Shield for 2012 and several members of the great man's family will be on hand for what should be a classic encounter between the two foundation clubs.

The action at North Sydney Oval on Friday night, 10 August, gets underway at 7.00pm.