THE Gerringong Lions have returned to the Group Seven winner’s circle after a solid 46-12 win over the Milton-Ulladulla Bulldogs at Michael Cronin Oval on Saturday afternoon.
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The Lions were looking to bounce back from their somewhat upset loss to Albion-Park Oak Flats in the previous round and did just that with a blistering opening stanza that had the game all but wrapped up in the first half.
The home side ran in six unanswered tries in the opening 40 minutes to lead 36-nil at the break, however the second half saw them take their foot off the pedal.
As is often the case at Gerringong, it was the Russell brothers who opened the Lions’ account.
Five-eighth Isaac opened the scoring before halfback Rixon matched his younger brother’s efforts.
Two conversions from Jake Taylor gave Gerringong a 12-nil lead inside the first 10 minutes.
That lead was soon extended when centre Toby Gumley-Quine skipped to the outside of his opposite number and raced away to score to the left of the posts.
Taylor added another conversion to push the lead out to 18-nil.
Gerringong kept up the early pressure and were soon rewarded again.
A clever grubber from rookie Tyran Wishart ended up in the hands of Nathan Ford and the Gerringong prop found Chris Mann in support who crossed to the right of the posts.
Taylor’s boot then made it a 24-nil lead.
That lead was soon out to five converted tries when Lions’ centre Danny Wedd crashed through the Dogs’ defence on the right fringe and Taylor kept up the perfect day with the boot.
Gerringong then capped the first half with some second phase play on the Dogs’ line that resulted in Wishart collecting a try of his own.
Taylor knocked over the conversion for a 36-nil lead at the break.
While the Lions’ lead didn’t stretch further early in the second half, there were other worries for the Bulldogs as a string of injuries left them with just a one-man interchange bench.
To visitors’ credit, they didn’t throw in the towel and hit back at the Lions with three consecutive tries.
A miss-kick from the Bulldogs first bought the Lions undone when PJ Ardler swooped on the ball and raced away to cross out wide in the 52nd minute.
Four minutes later replacement forward Arthur Scott had the Dogs’ second when he barreled over on the left fringe.
Scott then soon had his double when he burrowed over again, however the Dogs’ inability to land a conversion meant the Lions were still breathing relatively easy at 36-12 with 20 to go.
While the Dogs were making the most of their chances, an air of complacency seemed to have fallen over the Lions in the second half as they produced a number of uncharacteristic errors.
Replacement half Daniel Brown was the man who finally broke the Lions out of their funk, using some sleight of hand to slice through the Dogs’ defence and cross under the posts.
Taylor kept his perfect day with the boot intact and the lead was out to 42-12 with 12 to go.
Wedd then capped the game with a strong individual effort in the right corner to get a well-deserved double and round out the scoring at 46-12.
Wishart, Mann and Kal Collins all turned in classy performances for the Lions, while Nic Goodman, Lepani Waqa and Steine Lofts did all they could for the Bulldogs.