Phoenix 10 Pts v Gosford All Blacks 40 Pts

For a number of reasons Phoenix had quite a few players missing on Saturday and only managed to put out one team. The guys that played had a fantastic game and really stood up to the challenge. Quite a few were out of position, but that did not deter Phoenix.

Gosford All Blacks received the kick off and the referee basically gifted them their first try by not correctly officiating the scrum. 3 penalties were awarded against Phoenix which marched them all the way back to their own try line, leading to a try by Gosford.

Phoenix struck back soon after after sustained pressure which saw Luke Maundrill go over for a try. 5-5. The Gosford fly half went off after 20 minutes by a particularly hard hit from Jamie Willis at centre. The commitment from the whole team was great and Phoenix began to dominate every scrum. However, the referee inexplicably did not penalise the Gosford front row for standing up and for their back row binding on the Phoenix props. On a series of strong 8 man drives, with the Gosford front row yet again having to stand up under pressure, Gosford played the referee and managed to score 2 further tries making it 19-5 at half time.

In the 2nd half the same scrum infringements happened and Phoenix felt aggrieved that they should have been awarded at least 2 penalty tries before Nigel Coltman went over with a push over try. Adding to the frustration, Gosford scored a number of further tries off the back of a number of these pressured scrums as the back rows were busy driving them back.

The final score was 40-10 and a comfortable victory for Gosford All Blacks, but the score did not reflect the much improved performance by Phoenix over their first game against Gosford. Phoenix ended the game wondering how different the score might have been if the scrum had been officiated properly…

Scott Reid, a regular 2nd team player, shined on the wing, showing great potential. It was a pleasure to see the Symonds brothers run out together. Jamie Willis at centre paired well defensively with Chris Varey, and James Richardson played both full back and loose head prop. Again. A solid game by the whole pack, and the backs did well defensively, although a little less effervescent in attack with a few in new positions.

Phoenix: Tom Porter, J Dean, E Dibb, N Wincomb, N Coltman, M Lloyd, C Harrison, L Maundrill; M Landers, D Harris, S Reid, J Willis, C Varey, J Kilby, J Richardson

Subs: M Symonds, D Symonds, S Flynn, A Brench