It's been an up and down season for the usually high flying Falcons, who dropped as far down the ladder as seventh this year, before rebounding late in the season to gain fifth place and an away tie against the surprise packets of Division Two, Wollongong. Today's game pits two 'young' clubs against one another, and only one can emerge with a morale boosting first up win.
Wollongong Destructors Central Coast Falcons
1 Brett Hodgson 1 Luke Patten
2 Richard Mathers 2 Matt Utai
3 Brian Bower 3 Matthew Burke
4 Shaun Berrigan 4 Nigel Vagana
5 Adam Macdougall 5 Hazem El Masri
6 Danny McGuire 6 Braith Anasta
7 Stacey Jones 7 Brent Sherwin
8 Paul Gallen 8 Stuart Fielden
9 Chris Whittaker 9 Justin Marshall
10 Danny Ward 10 Luke Davico
11 Sebastian Mpofu 11 Imanol Harinordoquy
12 Lance Thompson © 12 James Manson
13 Richard Goddard 13 Paul Sculthorpe ©
++Interchange
14 Derrek Lawton 14 Michael Korkidas
15 Jackson Marrick 15 Chris Flannery
16 Ryan Bailey 16 Reni Maitua
17 Tim Clark 17 Graham Anlezark
The Destructors' faithful were given every reason to cheer in a disastrous start for the visiting Falcons, started off by a sloppy Matt Utai knock on and finished by a 49th second bullocking try by Paul Gallen, playing in the front row. The try came from a masterful grubber from Stacey Jones, collected on the bounce by Gallen. Brett Hodgson proved unequal to the task of a relatively simple conversion, but the Destructors had made a dream start to lead 4-0 after less than a minute.
After the initial try, both sides relaxed into form more befitting a final, end to end football and jarring defence the order of the day. Both sides were guilty of sloppy play, but when Brian Bower was sin-binned for his part in a brawl with Braith Anasta, James Manson, and Paul Gallen- the Destructors were immediately put on the back foot. It took the Falcons only a minute to capitalsie on their one man advantage, Brent Sherwin scoring a memorable try from thirty out after being put into a yawning gap by Braith Anasta. Hazem El Masri's fine form with the boot in 2004/2005 continued, and the Falcons erased their early deficit to lead 6-4 after ten minutes. Brian Bower's sin-binning continued to haunt the Destructors, who struggled to contain the Falcons as they continued to hammer their line with wave after wave of offence. On three separate occasions the Destructors only barely managed to defend their line, and when Hazem El Masri ran onto a perfectly timed Matt Burke crossfield bomb, it was try time all over again. Brian Bower jogged back onto the field as El Masri converted, putting his side up 12-4.
Bower's return added some starch to Wollongong's defence, but both sides seemed intent on playing messy football- as errors crept into both teams' offence. Neither side looked like top eight material as the game wound towards halftime, both sides playing some poor football. Wollongong had the first chance to score second quarter points when Shaun Berrigan sliced through the defence on Hazem El Masri's wing, but the level headed defence of Matt Burke shone as he dragged down the rampaging centre.
The half's pace picked up as the game wore on, with both sides gradually eliminating the errors from their game and instead focussing on quality, one out attack. The Destructors, however, grew continually frustrated as they tried and failed to crack the Falcons defensive line, the second most effective in the Premier League this season. Luke Davico's 35th minute try, scored after spinning loose of a poor Sebastian Mpofu tackle, summed up the Destructors' half- one of missed opportunities and half hearted defence. El Masri's conversion had it at 18-4, and the Destructors went into halftime looking down a potentially embarassing home defeat.
HALFTIME: Wollongong 4 trail Central Coast 18
If fans were expecting a change of attitude from the Destructors in the second half, they were sorely disappointed. In particularly it was Stacey Jones trying to do too much, constantly pushing passes and looking for that miracle play. All he got was more dropped ball, with Wollongong barely managing to complete 50% of their sets in possession. This resulted in no points and increased pressure on their own line, and already fans in the stands were beginning to worry about their side's ability to win a big game.
The first twenty minutes of the second half were scoreless, thanks to the Destructors' good defence. That was the club's only saving grace in an otherwise embarassing half of football, highlighted by dropped ball after dropped ball. The Falcons, already holding a potentially match-winning lead, relied on one out football, boring football, to keep themselves from dropping the halftime lead. The Falcons missed an opportunity to seal the game in the 64th, when Hazem El Masri's rampaging effort down the sideline wasn't rewarded due to an incident off the ball.
Reni Maitua couldn't be stopped just three minutes later, the big back rower sealing Wollongong's fate when he backed up a powerhouse Imanol Harinordoquy run. The Destructors' heads dropped, and fans were already preparing to leave the stadium. There was no chance of a Wollongong win from here, and every chance of a humiliating defeat at the hands of Anthony Magro's chargers.
The scrappy second half continued on its sometimes hard to watch way, and ended, perhaps fittingly, with Richard Goddard being bumped into touch by a big Matt Utai shoulder charge. The Wollongong players left the field dejected and embarassed, whilst Central Coast will need to improve if they're to win again next weekend.
FULLTIME
Wollongong Destructors 4
Paul Gallen
Hodgson 0/1
lost to
Central Coast Falcons 24
Reni Maitua
Hazem El Masri
Brent Sherwin
Luke Davico
El Masri 4/4
PoM Points
Hazem El Masri...................3
Matthew Burke....................2
Chris Flannery....................1
Go Falcons
Go Falcons
Go
Go
Go Falcons
It was now or never and we happened to get the now!
To hold the Destructors scoreless in the 2nd half, I think was a huge feat in itself. Full credit to Wollongong, they are a tough and very under-rated side who will blow you off the park when you're not looking.
We really had to put the pressure on guys like Danny McGuire and Stacey Jones. Two hit men who could have ruined our finals dream. Big applause to our forward pack to gritted out over the opposition pack and was able to let our backs weave their magic.
Hopefully we can keep this impressive form and make it to the Grand Final. We've got a huge hurdal next week with Brisbane but I think we are the ones to do it.
wow. Nervous wait for the Gong.
