by Jonty the Jet
PENRITH gave another demonstration of why it is the red hot AFL Sydney Division Two premiership favourites and left Nor-West with an uphill battle to make the finals with a 45-point victory over the Jets in the Riff-RAAF Cup clash at Bensons Lane on Saturday.
Despite a strong start and a much more committed effort than the previous clash between the two teams, the Jets were made pay for any error as the Rams cruised to a 13.6 84 to 5.9 39 victory that flexed their ample muscle.
The Jets controlled the first 10 minutes of the match and looked hungry to erase the memories of round nine, but missed three very gettable goalkicking opportunities, errors that were compounded when Penrith hit the target with each of the only four opportunities they had for the turn.
When the now charging Rams kicked the first three majors of the second term, memories of that day came to the forefront, but Nor-West refused to fold and finally got on the scoreboard with a goal to captain Jarod Thomson, and a second shortly after to pull the margin back to 29 points at half time.
With Warwick Smith repelling plenty of the Rams’ forward thrusts and Jebal Williams, Brendan Cameron and Thomson working hard further up the ground, the Jets kept fighting hard, but Penrith put the result to bed with a dominant period of the third term which yielded five goals in quick succession.
Despite that blast, it was still Nor-West that provided the highlight of the term and the match when Gerard Smits launched himself onto the shoulders of his Rams opponent Bryce Roney to take a contender for mark of the year that sent a crowd including a handful of 2005-06 premiership heroes into raptures, before kicking the goal.
Trailing by 49 points at the last change, the Jets could have folded up, but they showed plenty of spirit to win the final quarter, kicking two goals to one to regain some lost pride ahead of a challenging month ahead.
Thomson finished with two goals, while young gun Josh Cass turned in another head-turning performance across the middle.
NOR-WEST 0.3 2.4 3.8 5.9 39
PENRITH 4.0 7.3 12.3 13.6 84
NWJ Goals: J Thomson 2,G Smits, A Lawes, M Ingham.
NWJ Best: W Smith, J Williams, G Smits, B Cameron, J Thomson, J Cass.
HEADING towards the end of a nightmare stretch of matches against the top five teams in consecutive weeks, the reserves gave high-flying Penrith a big fright in the first half before finally succumbing by 43 points in Division Four.
The Jets showed the same manic desperation that saw them upset UTS three weeks ago against a Rams’ team that had lost just one match for the season, and were rewarded with a hard-earned six-point lead at quarter time that they extended to 15 shortly before half time, with the visitors showing some signs of frustration.
Luke Allan and Luke Bell were in control in the ruck, providing first use of the ball to their midfielders, while Jesse Bray and Dean Braid were strong in busting packs, Stephen Chase was causing plenty of headaches and Peter Richardson was typically dominant on his wing.
It looked like another upset was on the cards, but Penrith managed to scramble a goal just before half time to cut the margin to nine points and came out rejuvenated after the break, putting three majors on in no time to take the lead and the wind out of the Nor-West sails.
The visitors added two more for the term to lead by 26 points at the final change, and although the home team kicked the first goal of the last quarter to raise a glimmer of hope, it was quickly snuffed out when Tony Joyce, who had held Jason Bradley to just one goal in three and a half quarters, was forced off with a knee injury.
Penrith slammed on six quick goals to blow the final score out to a flattering 14.14 98 to 8.3 51, Bradley helping himself to three of them.
NOR-WEST 2.2 5.2 5.2 8.3 51
PENRITH 1.2 3.5 8.10 14.14 98
NWJ Goals: A Scott 2, S Braid, J Bray, L Allan, S Potts, L Bell, B Goodwin.
NWJ Best: L Allan, J Bray, D Braid, L Bell, S Chase, P Richardson, T Joyce.
The Jets are at home again this week with must-win matches in both grades against Moorebank, with reserves starting at 12pm and seniors at 2.10pm.
Last Modified on 18/07/2011 18:42
