Reflection Time for Knights

For Kiama Knights it’s a matter of so near and yet so far.

This was after yet another South Coast Rugby League season slipped away after scoring a resounding 28-14 win over semi-final bound Warilla-Lake South Gorillas at Cec Glenholmes Oval on Sunday.

Their fourth successive win, including three teams who finished above them on the points table, has seen them miss the finals by just two points and they will look back on several games earlier in the season with memories of missed opportunities.

Sunday’s match against the Gorillas was one of two halves with, surprisingly, the team running into the wind in each half struggling to take advantage.

The Knights were first on the board after ten minutes when a backline movement saw centre Jeremy Alger race away, but from then the game became a struggle as the Knights battled a mounting penalty count and a determined Warilla side, with the home side levelling when Joel Murtin dived on a loose ball to score.

They hit the lead almost straight after when Chris Henry threw a long ball that found Murtin who crashed over and right on halftime a great offload by second-rower Andrew Gent saw Don Kane score and with Shane Wills converting the Gorillas led 14-4 at halftime. With the wind at their backs in the second term they looked headed for victory.

The Knights came out looking more determined after the break and they were unlucky not to score when hooker Mitchell Rein made a break and kicked ahead for Scott Morris to be dragged down right on the line with the try denied.

Tempers flared and Knights half Joel Moses was dispatched to the ‘sin bin’ by referee Bowden and this seemed to spur the Knights on, with the outstanding Rein, who must be considered a chance of the Rookie of the Year award after a great second half of the season, nabbing two great tries from dummy-half in the space of five minutes and Morris’ conversion levelled the scores at 14 all before Moses returned.

Warilla’s only real excursion into Knights territory in the second half via a 40-20 kick by Henry turned sour when Alger latched on to an intercept and raced 80 metres to touch down under the posts for Morris to give the visitors a 20-14 lead.

They finished the game in grand style with two late tries to Morris after constructive blind-side play by Cameron Whittaker and Marc Laird.

In a great team effort, Mitchell Rein, Scott Morris, Marc Laird and Cameron Whittaker were among their best..

Albion Park-Oak Flats Eagles ended their injury-ravaged season with a 44-34 win against Gerringong at Michael Cronin Oval on Saturday.

While neither team was in contention for this year’s finals series there was still plenty on the line.

Gerringong, attempting to ensure they avoided the wooden spoon and the defending premiers looking to test out some new combinations before next season.

Danny Sartori, Matthew Hingle and Dean Gray were the standouts for the Park, while Greg Sharpe, Michael Brown and Matt Vaux were the best for Gerringong.

Shellharbour City Sharks wrapped up the minor premiership in all three grades following their outstanding 54-24 win over Batemans Bay Tigers at McKay Park on Sunday.

The Sharks bolted out of the blocks to grab early tries to Matt Coelho and Aaron Carney to lead 10-0 after five minutes and from that point onwards the game was very much a foregone conclusion.

There was no fairytale finish for the Shoalhaven Jets in their inaugural season in the VB South Coast Group 7 Rugby League, missing out on the minor premiership at the Nowra Showground, going down 34-26 to fellow semi-finalists Milton-Ulladulla.

Best for the Bulldogs was second rower Ben Mackinnon, Mick Blattner, Greg Sherwin and Peter Howcroft, while Bill Brown, Geoff Johnson and Ben Wellington worked hard for the Jets.