Sport
Whales stun Colleagues with points avalanche
JOHN DAVAINE
Thursday 1 May, 2008 12:01am
MOSMAN Rugby managed to silence their critics on April 19 when they beat last year's grand finalists, Woolahra Colleagues, in stunning fashion.
The Whales returned to form with a much-needed 40-27 win against Colleagues at Woolahra Oval.
After back-to-back losses in the opening two rounds, the win hoisted the Whales from the bottom of the ladder much to the relief of club president Damon Lynch.
"I'm very proud of the club in the way that they regrouped to take the honours on the day," he said.
The week started well for Mosman, with the club's under-85kg team commencing their premiership defence with a 13-5 win against West Harbour.
And the high-flying Colts remain undefeated after three rounds, after they delivered a 12-5 result against Colleagues.
However, Lynch said it was critical that the first grade team resurrect its fortunes for the club to be succesful this season.
The Whales denied Colleagues the opportunity to make the most of the windy conditions by playing a tight, forwards-oriented style of game that allowed Mosman to retain possesion for long periods of time.
Going to the break trailing by eight points (12-20), the Whales were confident that they could run the opposition into the ground in the second half.
Scoring a further three second-half tries and slotting a brace of penalty goals, Mosman finished all over their exhausted opponents as they piled on 28 unanswered points.
A late try by Colleagues reduced the final margin to 13 points.
Whales captain Michael Howes was thrilled with the result and encouraged about the rest of the season.
"We are notorious slow starters, but this win has set the platform for our entire season," he said.
"We haven't been playing badly but this week we really put it all together."
The return of Henry Clark and Chris Polin added much-needed class to the backline, but it was the powerful defence and strong running of forwards Trent Matchett, Greg Jenkins, Pete Shirvington and skipper Howes that saw the victory.
Ever-reliable fullback Scott Jewell finishing the day with a personal haul of 20 points capped off a great performance by the club.
Howes and Shirvington were selected to play for the NSW Suburban Rugby Union representative side with Howes as vice captain as a curtain-raiser to the Waratahs match on Saturday night.
