The morning
dawned bright and cold, with a strong wind emanating from the
grandstand end of the school. St Peter's College came to MAGS
hungry for revenge after their loss in the 2009 semi-final.
The team knew that this was going to be a stern test and it was emphasised by coach McAlister throughout the week. The focus was entirely on defence and how MAGS could counteract St Peter's attacking weapons.
St Peter's came out to the resonating sound of their 'army' echoing off the walls of MAGS, but the MAGS boys had a quiet confidence around them, knowing they had done the work during the week and were well prepared for the tense battle ahead.
|
From the kick off, St Peter's were on the attack which lead
to a near try to their centre Blake Hall. A courageous tackle
by Gafatasi Su'a stopped him just inches from the line. From
there, MAGS won the ball and slowly edged their way down the
field and were awarded a penalty which Albert Nikoro slotted,
giving MAGS a 3-0 lead early on in the piece.
From the
restart MAGS were able to maintain possession and storm into
opposition territory. Holding onto the ball for such an
extended period of time meant that the St Peter's's defence
was stretched thin. It eventually
resulted in a good string of passes, with Gafatasi Su'a
dotting down in a corner. Albert Nikoro converted giving MAGS
a 10 - 3 lead, St Peter's having kicked a penalty a few
minutes prior.
Now was the time for MAGS to press home their advantage as
they began to get the best of the St Peter's team. The MAGS
forwards were starting to get into their groove and the backs
were firing. In just a short space of time MAGS put away
another two tries. The first coming off the back of some good
forward work, with a quick pass away to the left, enabling
Damon Niko to score in the corner. Matt McGahan scored the
second, with a little dummy to the outside, acceleration
through a half gap and finished it off with great strength.
MAGS 20 - 3 St Peter's.
The game began to look comfortable for MAGS, and a sense of complacency crept in. This enabled St Peter's to burrow over for a try of their own on the stroke of half-time showing that they had not given up.
With a 20 - 8 lead at half time, coach McAlister urged his players to continue to follow the game plan and keep up the aggression at the contact area.
Half-Time Score: MAGS 20 - 8 St Peter's
|
MAGS kicked off the second half and before long found themselves deep inside St Peter's half, hot on attack. This resulted in a good run from Scott Malolua down the blindside, with a quick in and away he was able to round two St Peter's defenders and dot down in the corner. The try went unconverted.
St Peter's continued to fight on, however, and they were rewarded with another try soon after. A freakish bounce that eluded Milford Keresoma, fell into the hands of the chasing St Peter's winger who had a relatively clear run to the line.
At 25 - 13 MAGS knew that it was time to put the game out of reach. With this mindset MAGS put on 20 minutes of beautiful running rugby. With a kind bounce going their way and runners breaking tackles all over the place, tries were scored. The first by Ngana Lu'au after a punching run and swerve from 40 metres out.
Gafatasi Su'a was able to dot down for his second of the match after some great support play and a solid 20 metre run down an unmanned blind side. Louis Devery was also then able to carve straight through the heart of the chasing St Peter's players, fielding a kick roughly 30 metres out from the St Peter's line and scoring right beside the posts. At 44 - 13 the game was well out of reach for St Peter's, but MAGS were not done yet and their persistence was rewarded with a final try to substitute Xavia Siol'a.
The final whistle sounded soon after and MAGS had come away with a resounding 51-13 win.
Final Score: MAGS 51- 13 St Peter's
BY SEAN BROOKMAN and MILFORD KERESOMA.
" Dominate" Player of the Day: Gafatasi Su'a
Next week's game: Saturday the 15th of May vs Kelston BHS (at Kelston)
