North Sydney Bears have kept in touch with ladder leaders Penrith Panthers after a dominant 56-18 win over Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles in The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup match at North Sydney Oval.
Game summary
The Bears started the game with a bang after Jesse Marschke scored the opening try after finishing off a Tom Carr kick following an attacking raid down the left side. Tom Mata’afa scored soon after to make it 10-0 after six minutes.
The Sea Eagles reduced the margin to 10-6 through a try to Bilaal Maarbani but it was short-lived with Carr scoring off a scrum-base play to re-establish a 10-point lead.
It was all one-way traffic from that point on, with the Bears piling on three more consecutive tries before half-time through Josh Bergamin, Billy Smith and Ben Marschke as the Blacktown defence continued to give way.
Trailing 32-6 at the break, the Sea Eagles scored a sensational try through Kaio Weekes but it was all in vain as the Bears produced some razzle-dazzle footy to run away with the second half.
Kieran Hayman bagged a second-half double while big forwards Jerry Key and Tuku Hau Tapuha picked up a try each at the end of the game.
Key moment
After early dominance from the Bears, Blacktown did well to produce a try and stay within four points. They dropped the ball on the first run from the kick-off, and the Bears capitalised to completely erase the Sea Eagles’ hard work and change momentum back in their favour.
Talking point
It was a tough afternoon for the Sea Eagles as they struggled to defend wave after wave of North Sydney attack. The Bears have more than enough talent in their team to challenge the likes of Penrith and the Jets for the title this season. James Segeyaro lined up for the Sea Eagles and he couldn’t make much of a difference though he did a lot of talking and even played in the halves during the game as captain.
Road ahead
North Sydney hosts Penrith on Friday night in what shapes to be a huge top of the ladder clash. The Sea Eagles visit Parramatta at CommBank Stadium on Friday evening.
