Georgie's Match Report - Rnd 5

 
It was forecast to be wetter than a marlin’s bathing costume at the Village Green for the round 5 clash against Manly, whose only loss for the season came against, Warringah at the same venue the previous week. After such a stinging loss to their local rivals, Gordon surely had to be wary of a team with one of the most vaunted
forward packs in the competition who were desperate to avoid consecutive defeats.

The game started brightly for the visitors, as they pinned the Marlins in their own quarter for the first 10 minutes of the game. It was only the fantastic defence of the home side that denied the men in tartan on numerous occasions. Eventually the weight of possession proved to be too much, and the dam wall yielded to see Will Bremner, back as starting hooker, crash over just to the right of the posts to have Gordon up 7-0.

In what felt like the blink of an eye, given the huge amount of possession enjoyed by Gordon, Manly were  awarded a penalty on the halfway line shortly after the restart and drove deep in to the Highlanders red zone. A well taken line out and rolling maul had the sides locked at seven points apiece after 15 minutes.

Both sets of fans prepared themselves for what most expected would be a hard-fought tussle. However, the game was to pan out as the opposite of those expectations, as Gordon piled on another four unanswered tries before the home side registered a late consolation try several minutes after the full-time bell, in what was a comprehensive showing.

More sustained pressure after Manly’s first try from a relentless forward pack that made the big Manly pack do so much work in defence all afternoon, led to Ben Pollack spinning the ball left to Barrie Karea off the back of another attacking ruck that had reached the base of the posts. Karea took the ball to the defence and found
fullback Will Kaye to put the ball down in front of the home fans on the green wall on the 25-minute mark, who were a little more subdued than the previous week.

An offside penalty awarded against Gordon off the kick off invited the Marlins to within 10 metres of our line. However, Prez Tufuga rose to pinch the throw to clear the immediate danger. Manly still had a chance before Brandon Quinn ripped a ball away from a Manly attacker near the sideline on the 22 and halfback Joe Snow
kicked the ball to the other 22 with no one home. After five more energy-sapping minutes of defending wave after wave of tartan attack, Karea again bent the line back 10 metres allowing Pollack to play with momentum and sensing an opportunity out wide, threw a glorious cut out pass to a flying Quinn who scored in the same
corner as Kaye to see the halftime score of 17-7.

The home team had a chance soon after the start of the second half with an attacking line out five metres from the line. But the Marlins’ replacement hooker was again worried out of it and overthrew and danger was averted after a Manly knock on in front of the posts 15 metres from the line. From the scrum, it looked as though Gordon would clear through a kick from Kaye five metres out. The English fullback had other ideas, as he saw half a gap and pinned his ears back before kicking from 10 meters the other side of halfway for a hard-charging Oli Arcus to regather and nearly run away to score. He was ultimately denied that result as he turned the ball over 85 metres from where the play began. The Marlins fans groaned at the shift in fortune, and it seemed that many might be starting to think that it wasn’t going to be their day.

Manly got out of trouble and a penalty saw them with another lineout from a penalty 40 meters from Gordon’s line. Another Marlins overthrow saw Snow gather and slam the ball down field for a 50/22 and a Highlanders lineout. With more relentless energy-sapping phase play, Bremner dived over for his second of the afternoon, to
put the good guys up 24-7 early in the second stanza. To their credit, Manly didn’t go away on their home patch and they continued to create chances. Resolute Gordon defence denied them on several occasions, including Alex Humfrey holding up a ball carrier over the line. Quick-thinking counterattack saw the men in tartan clear their lines and turn their exhausted opponents around.

Bremner earned an early exit from the game at the 65th minute mark. It was his replacement, Cam Lewis who scored in the shadows of full time, on the back of yet another scrum penalty as the Marlin’s pack splintered.
With the consolation try to Manly after the bell, the game ended 34-14 with a bonus point win for the Highlanders and a move to fourth on the table, only one point out of second position. It capped a great day with all Colts and Grade teams successful except for a close loss for 3rd Grade.

A huge shout out must go to the pack, who overcame some early difficulty at scrum time, to quickly assert themselves and by the game’s end, they were the dominant pack, aided by some hungry fresh reserves. The way they made the big Marlins forwards work around the ground for the full 80 minutes eventually took its toll with huge carries from Jack Margin and number 8, Sosaia Moala. It is not unreasonable to think that the Manly hookers will be having nightmares about the twin threats of Perez and Akauola. At times it was difficult to imagine that they could win their own throw.

This weekend sees the Highlanders host Randwick at Chatswood, for another top half of table encounter. Last season saw the Galloping Greens win in the first week of the finals to knock Gordon out of the competition. The rest of the finalists were more than pleased to see the men in tartan get eliminated at that stage, as many good judges thought the Highlanders were a very good chance to win the whole thing. It has all the ingredients of a classic encounter between these two old rivals.

 

Get down to the ground to support your team. It is not too late to get a membership and join the Clan in 2024.

Until the next time we meet, make mine a Grants. Up Gordon!
Georgie McHugh