Sports Wrap: A-League redeems the west as NRL teams fail to fire

It wasn’t the ideal weekend for Real Sydney sports fans, with the excitement of the new NRL season quickly tempered by defeats for last year’s grand finalists and the new-look Tigers. 

Thankfully the Western Sydney Wanderers are still looking good in the A-League after a strong showing against Central Coast, while Macarthur left it late to steal all three points again Brisbane. 

NRL

Parramatta: The Eels hit the ground running against Melbourne and had an early four-pointer contentiously denied for a forward pass. Within minutes they’d scored the first try of the season through Will Penisini, creating space on the right side for a half-time lead.

The teams traded tries in the early stages of the second half, with the scores tied at 12 heading into the final stages and setting off an inevitable series of field goal attempts before heading in to golden point. 

Storm dummy-half Harry Grant then caught everyone by surprise, scooting away from the play the ball and through the middle of the defence to score an unlikely but match-winning try. 

Penrith: The defending premiers’ strong favouritism looked deserved in the early stages, with a blazing move down the right seeing Liam Martin and Dylan Edwards link up for Stephen Crichton to score a sensational opener, but the Broncos scored next with Herbie Farnworth strolling through a yawning gap in the defence. 

Less than five minutes later, the Broncos were in again thanks to a line-break by Ezra Mam, who cleverly kicked behind Edwards for Farnworth, who won his shoulder-to-shoulder race with Brian To’o. 

With conditions deteriorating the game became a challenge to see who could retain possession the longest, before Adam Reynolds pulled the trigger on a field goal that created a valuable seven-point margin. 

Though the Panthers brought the margin back to one point through a late try to Soni Luke, the value of the field goal was evident as the Broncos’ resolute defence held out to secure the victory.

Wests Tigers: It was a packed Leichhardt Oval as fans came together to catch a glimpse of their new-look team, but the game ended in all-too familiar circumstances, with the home side leaving it too late to come back after the Titans created a commanding lead. 

The Gold Coast ran in three unanswered first-half tries to take an 18-2 lead, with the home side finally finding the line five minutes into the second half. A Daine Laurie try with 15 minutes to go brought the Tigers back within striking distance and set up what looked to be an exciting finish, but they only had themselves to blame for some soft defence when AJ Brimson scythed through the line to put the result beyond doubt with 10 minutes to go. 

A LEAGUE

Wanderers: Western Sydney put themselves back into second spot on the A-League ladder with a convincing win over the Central Coast Mariners, claiming all three points after a 2-0 result at Commbank Stadium. 

It was a dominant attacking display from the red and black, who constantly challenged the Mariners’ defensive line before Brandon Borello continued his recent rich vein of form to give the home side the lead after a sweeping counter-attack. 

The lead looked less assured after halftime when Marcelo was shown a straight red card in the early stages of the second period, but despite the numerical disadvantage the Wanderers were able to double their lead after some excellent link-up play between Romain Amalfitano and Calem Nieuwenhof. 

Though the Mariners fought to apply pressure, they were also brought down to 10 men after another straight red was issued to Beni N’Kololo, and the Wanderers held on.

Macarthur: The Bulls bounced back from consecutive losses to put the Brisbane Roar to the sword, but they left it until the last possible moment to secure all three points after giving up a 2-0 lead in the second half. 

The Bulls started strongly and opened the scoring within 15 minutes thanks to Georgian international Bachana Arabuli, who finished off a sweeping counter-attack that began at the other end of the field. 

Opportunities came for both sides during a tight contest, but when Matthew Millar scored mid-way through the second half for a 2-0 advantage, the result looked all-but certain. 

No one told Brisbane, though, and the wind was stripped from Macarthur’s sails after the Roar scored twice in two minutes to erase the deficit - but there was still another twist in the tail. 

Deep into stoppage time, Roar defender Jordan Courtney-Perkins threw himself in front of a Macarthur break to earn his second yellow card and a dismissal. With time fast running out and the Bulls throwing everything at the defence, Jake McGing found himself unmarked with an open header to steal all three points in the final minute of the game. 

SPEED MACHINES

The annual National Speedcar Championship was held at Eastern Creek this weekend, with plenty of fierce and high-speed competition over the course of three days. 

Congratulations to American racer Brady Bacon, who took home the top honour.

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