Phoenix 20 Pts v Gosford All Blacks 53 Pts

Almost immediately after play got underway, Phoenix gifted Godford their opening try. Having secured the ball from the kick-off, Phoenix managed to put themselves under immediate pressure by failing to clear their lines and Gosford turned the ball over and crossed just to the left of the posts. The missed conversion limited the Gosford lead to just 5 points. Phoenix failed to retain possession and clearance kicks only served to provide Gosford with more attacking opportunities. It was not long before Gosford crossed for their second try beneath the posts with the conversion taking them to 12 points in as many minutes.
Phoenix managed to push play into the Gosford half but failed to open their scoring when a penalty for a Gosford infringement went wide. Gosford then broke clean through again at inside centre for a try beneath the posts and extended their lead to 19 points with less than a quarter of the match spent. Phoenix were struggling to make any impression on the Gosford side but did manage a Townsend penalty goal on the half hour but a series of defensive errors let Gosford through for 3 more tries which could have been four but for an excellent chase back and tackle from replacement flanker James Richardson. The set pieces went reasonably well for Phoenix but Gosford gained too much turnover ball in the loose and gained from some wayward clearance kicks both of which served to increase the pressure on Phoenix. Possession gained in this way was used intelligently by Gosford to keep the pressure on and exposed some weak Phoenix defence enabling them to turn round with a comfortable 33 point lead.

Phoenix needed to hold onto possession during the second half and play to their strengths. James Dean came on at flanker for the injured Alex Jones and James Dixon entered the fray with half an hour to go. Suddenly Phoenix began to put some pressure on Gosford, forcing some good defence from them. James Richardson in particular made several darting runs that are his trademark. As Richardson drove forward, Gosford eventually ran out of tacklers and he touched down beneath the posts. Sadly the conversion went wide but Phoenix had begun to put things together. A second try came as the Phoenix pack drove through Gosford and hooker Robin Gill touched down. Phoenix were beginning to take part. Unfortunately while Phoenix were recovering their composure, Gosford continued to expose their defence and ran in three more tries. But Phoenix finished on top forcing Gosford back onto their own line where continual infringements gained Phoenix penalty try converted by Kieron Roche, taking his side to 20 points as the whistle blew for full time.

Phoenix: E Dibb, R Gill, J Willis, N Wincomb, L Maundrill, A Jones, J Taylor, T Morgan; D Harris (Capt), P Byrne, M Lloyd, I Watkinson, K Roche, J Dainty, J Townsend

Subs: J Richardson, J Dixon, J Dean