THE Kiama Knights made it five wins on the trot as they out-muscled a threatening Warilla Lake-South Gorillas side by 24-18 at Cec Glenhomes Oval on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In a fiery and hard hitting clash, the men in black and red prevented a possible Gorillas comeback by showing desperation in their defence in dying stages of the game.
The Gorillas were definitely up for the arm wrestle as they gained an early 6-nil lead in the opening exchanges through Nick King, who received a perfect cut out ball from Emanuel Sultana.
The Knights set up camp in Warilla’s half and found it difficult to break through a tough and resilient Gorillas defensive line.
Kiama would soon be rewarded for their discipline and patience in attack as Cameron Vazzolar assisted Josh Toohey from close range and winger Matt Morris produced an amazing 80 metre solo effort.
The Knights led 10-6.
After Warilla back-rower Nick King was sin-binned moments before half-time, the visitors decided to extend their lead to 12-6 as Cameron Vazzolar slotted a crucial penalty conversion.
The away side turned it up a notch in attack as Ethan Ford bolted 40 metres and assisted Jay Delaney in a spectacular converted try.
Vazzolar landed two more goals to take his side to a 20-6 lead.
The second half became more intense as Gorillas back-rower Ben Cotter and Kiama interchange forward Matt Cornell were both sin binned by referee Jordan Mitchell for an altercation in Warilla’s territory.
After forcing a few errors in opposition territory the home side reduced Kiama’s lead to eight as Emanuel Sultana and Tyson Brown combined.
Tensions flared yet again as Warilla were forced to play the last 15 minutes of the match with 12 players as Ben Cotter was sent off for a head high tackle on Blake Rickard.
Minutes later, Tom Atkins came up with try of his own out wide as Kiama lead 24-12.
A 12-man Gorillas side showed a lot of character as Emanuel Sultana showed off his blistering speed inside opposition territory which got his side back into the contest.
Sultana nailed his conversion and the Gorillas trailed by six.
Despite their hard work, the Gorillas couldn’t produce the points in Chad Lisch’s 100th game for the club, as Kiama held on for a solid 24-18 victory.
For Kiama, Cameron Whittaker, Kieran Poole, James Brown, Matt Gladman and Tom Atkins were terrific while Emanuel Sultana, Tyson Brown, Guy Rosewarn, Andrew Diomei and Nick King were the standouts for the Gorillas.