The Newtown Jets forward pack laid the platform for a 20-0 first-half score line before going on to defeat the Wentworthville Magpies 26-12.
Despite an extremely brave second half performance from the Magpies, the deficit was too much to climb back from.
Pat Politoni and Dallas Wells were excellent off the back of the Jets forward pack that worked tirelessly throughout the 80 minutes.
The Magpies had a promising start to the game as they dominated possession, held opportune field position and defended strongly.
All of the Magpies’ hard work was undone 19 minutes into the game when Mitch Brown scored the opening try for the Jets. This came off the back of a Nathan Gardner linebreak where he could not find his feet, and crawled a fair distance before unloading to the try scorer.
Six minutes later, the Jets increased their lead to 10-0 after Junior Roqica ran a perfect line onto a wonderful Todd Murphy pass to burst through and score.
The Magpies allowed this 10-point margin to turn into a 20-point deficit at halftime after they conceded two tries in the final ten minutes of the half, both involving Wells.
Politoni scored the first of those tries after Wells re-gathered a grubber and threw an inside ball to the try scorer. Six minutes later, Wells charged onto a Saulala Houma offload to dash away to score in the left corner.
Trailing by 20 at half time, it was hard to see the Magpies being able to create a contest in the second half. However, they came into the second half with a different mentality, and at one point they successfully defended five consecutive Jets sets.
At the start of the half, Gardner dramatically injured himself by crashing into a fence whilst attempting to stop a penalty kick going into touch.
Although he eventually returned to the field, Gardner’s excellent first half form was not carried into the second half after the injury.
The Magpies defended well in the half but their execution in attack was lacking, as they could not score despite having plenty of chances.
In the space of five minutes, there were three try-scoring opportunities for the Magpies, however, none of them were converted into points.
Finally in the 68th minute, Ben Crooks was rewarded for the Magpies’ persistence with a try to get them on the board for the first time.
The Jets hit straight back when Daniel Abou-Sleiman scored in the corner off the back of a Sami Sauiluma offload to make it 26-6.
In the dying seconds, the Magpies scored their second try when Tui Kamikamica scored under the posts off a Bevan French pass.
This try provided the fulltime score as 26-12, which gave the Jets a well-deserved victory.
Both of these teams enjoy the week off with a bye next round, and they will be back the following weekend for the country round. The Jets will face the Wyong Roos in Albury, while the Magpies will play the Penrith Panthers in Port Macquarie.
Newtown Jets 26 (M Brown, J Roqica, P Politoni, D Wells, D Abou-Sleiman tries; N Gardner 3 goals) def. Wentworthville 12 (B Crooks, T Kamikamica tries; B Henry 2 goals)
