Wyong Roos collected a fourth win of the season with a solid 28 to 6 win over Penrith at Morry Breen Oval.
Wyong started with a flurry of points and finished the same way in their five-tries-to-one victory in damp conditions.
Wyong got off to a super start when their kick-off found touch. Penrith were put under more pressure by having to defend repeat sets on their own goal line.
On their third set, Wyong crossed when Omar Slaimankhel put a nice cross kick in the corner for Charlie Taylor to score. Tyler Cornish converted the try and the Roos were up 6-nil after five minutes.
It was all Wyong in the first 10 minutes, but that was because the Roos had all the ball.
Finally, Penrith got the ball after 11 minutes and got through their first set. That was probably their only highlight of the first 20 minutes as Wyong simple dominated possession.
It wasn’t long before Wyong found themselves in good field position again and picked up two tries in five minutes to blow the score out to 14-nil.
Their second try came thanks to some fast ball movement to the left, which created an overlap for Chris Centrone to go over untouched.
Shortly after, Dominic Reardon crossed on the right, and the Roos enjoyed a comfortable 14-nil lead as the rain started to bucket down.
The wet weather stopped the Roos from playing expansive football, subsequently inviting Penrith back into the contest.
10 minutes out from half-time, Penrith got on the score sheet with Corey Harawira-Naera crossing on the right edge. Josh Hall added the extras to reduce the margin to eight points.
The heavens eased a little but no more points were scored in an entertaining first half, with the Panthers fighting back to make it 14-6 at the break.
The second half began in subdued fashion as both teams looked to play simple footy in the wet conditions. The one-out style allowed for some big contact, including Wyong’s Jai Ingram putting a nice hit on Harawira-Naera in a text book rib-tickler.
Wyong began to expand the football and created two chances to keep the Panthers on their toes.
It was a real arm wrestle, with both sides digging deep.
Penrith had an opportunity after Centrone was pulled up for an obstruction, with three consecutive sets inside the Roos 20 metre line. The Panthers came up empty handed, however, which was a credit to the Roos’ defence.
The Roos marched up the other end and were rewarded a penalty close enough for Tyler Cornish to make the score 16-6 with 15 minutes to go.
Wyong just had to grind out the final minutes and make Penrith force their hand. A dropped ball gave Wyong another shot and they took their opportunity; they pushed forward and swung it to the left for Jai Ingram to cross for a well-deserved try. Cornish added the extras to push the score out to 22-6.
Wyong crossed for one more try right on full-time, with Mitch Williams putting front rower Paki Afu over. Cornish again converted the try to make the final score 28-6.
It was a great effort by all 34 players - even the referee Daniel Olford had superb game in trying conditions.
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