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An exceptional second half recovery catapulted the One New Zealand Warriors to a stunning 40-28 win over Canterbury Bankstown in Sunday’s round 12 Jersey Flegg Cup (under-21) clash at Navigation Homes Stadium in Pukekohe.
Anyone checking the halftime score couldn’t have imagined the contest would have finished this way.
While the Warriors put together a terrific early try finished by centre Caelys Putoko the wheels then came off as the visitors slammed on four straight tries in 19 minutes to lead 22-6 at the break.
The signs were far from encouraging for the players and coach TJ Ashford, taking charge of the side for the second time after guiding the club’s Harold Matthews Cup (under-17) side to a second consecutive premiership earlier this month.
Instead, cue an extraordinary change in the second half as the roles were completely reversed.
Match: Warriors v Bulldogs
Round 12 -
home Team
Warriors
10th Position
away Team
Bulldogs
6th Position
Venue: Navigation Home Stadium, Pukekohe
The Warriors started the rescue mission in the opening minute of the spell and didn’t let up until 28 minutes later by which time they had scored 34 unanswered points to lead 40-22. Unbelievable.
First a shift to the right found Putoko who exploded through a hole, palming off defenders to score and the comeback was on.
Four minutes later left centre Brandon Norris had the first of two tries with a delightful take on the run of a Maui Winitana-Patelesio bomb; Norris converted to have the Warriors only four points behind at 18-22.
A powerful run by interchange forward Tepatasi Laumalili provided the impetus for the next try, the ball going right for fullback Joseph Ratcliffe to scythe through with Norris converting to put his side 24-22 ahead.
There was no stopping, though.
The Warriors went left, Winitana-Patelesio firing out a long cut-out ball to winger Tallan Egan. He was checked but as he was going down he flicked the ball back superbly for Norris to score for a 28-22 advantage with more than 20 minutes still to play.
The Bulldogs were being run ragged and it showed in the next try when hooker Jaydee Auloa, taking the ball at first receiver, dummied to his right then straightened and beat five defenders to score between the posts.
Second rower Alvin Chong Nee added the final act to the scoring spree as he surged onto Rodney Tuipulotu Vea’s pass, Norris with his sixth conversion to put the Warriors 40-22 ahead with 10 minutes to go.
The Bulldogs scored their only points of the second half in the closing minutes but they had been powerless to stem the tide as the Warriors bounced back from losing the first half 6-22 to winning the second 34-6.
Their third win of the season together with two draws has lifted them to 10th on the ladder, just a point off eighth place.
Now they face a challenging spell of three games on the road starting with South Sydney at Redfern Oval on Saturday.
