The Thirroul Butchers are through to the Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup grand final, after defeating minor premiers De La Salle in a tense preliminary final.
By Emily Chate
De La Salle kicked off to save their premiership hopes. The beginning of the game saw a few chances go begging for Thirroul, as the De La Salle defensive line held strong.
It took a charge down from Thirroul second rower Harry Leddy to finally crack the De La Salle defence, with five-eighth Jarrod Boyle finding the ball to score.
The teams continued to trade sets until a grubber kick from Thirroul fullback Wayne Bremmer put winger Jye Patterson over for their second try and a 10-nil lead.
Thirroul’s attack and defence were working perfectly to keep De La Salle at bay, as Harry Leddy set up his second try with a grubber kick that sent Bremner over for a try of his own. Centre Steven Marsters successfully converted to put Thirroul 16 in front.
However, Thirroul then gave De La Salle valuable field position after conceding a series of penalties. De La Salle then finally scored their first points of the game through Wesley Lolo, befofe Eli Levido put the extra points on the board.
This left the halftime scoreline 16-6 in favour of Thirroul.
The Butchers second half got off to an excellent start with Cooper Bowen scoring within the opening five minutes of the second 40.
The teams then traded possession for a period, before Bowen was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul. De La Salle had a chance against 12 men yet couldn’t execute on Thirroul’s tryline.
The Butcher’s 12-man defence was impressive, and they continued to deny De La Salle before scoring their fifth try through halfback Tarje Whitford.
De La Salle wouldn’t submit though, and they managed to progress their field position before hooker Jazz Flavel got over the line.
Another De La Salle try was scored by winger Cain Barnes, who ran a 100 metres to get his team another 4 points following a mistake by Thirroul on their opponent’s line.
However, Barnes’ try would be De La Salle’s last, as Thirroul sealed their grand final hopes with a 26-16 win. They go on to meet Collegians next Saturday in the decider.
