Despite a strong second-half performance, the Sydney Roosters were overcome by the Newtown Jets, going down 40-18 at Henson Park on Saturday afternoon.
A double to Thomas Deakin and comprehensive defence from Angus Crichton and Elie El-Zakhem wasn’t enough to trump the Jets, who dominated in attack, reining in five first-half tries.
Match: Jets v Roosters
Round 7 -
home Team
Jets
3rd Position
away Team
Roosters
10th Position
Venue: Henson Park, Sydney
The Roosters began to turn the screws early, advancing the ball up the field off a penalty before forcing a line dropout to gain another set pressing Newtown’s line. They almost found points when Elie El-Zakhem fielded a Sandon Smith chip kick, but the ball was forced loose in a tackle, giving the Jets a 20-metre restart.
Newtown took advantage of their seven-tackle set, making a break on their right side before Trindall trickled a grubber kick in behind the Roosters defensive line which was scooped up by Charbel Tasipale to score. The try was converted by Mawene Hiroti to give the Jets an early 6-0 lead.
Receiving a penalty on the restart, it wasn’t long before Newtown were deep in the Roosters’ territory once more. They capitalised on the field position with a slick play out the back, which finished with Hiroti delivering a flick pass to winger Samuel Stonestreet who dived over in the corner. Hiroti then converted the try from the sideline with a pinpoint strike off the boot.
Newtown almost crossed for their third try of the game when Trindall placed a long kick into the path of flying winger Samuel Stonestreet, but it was defused in-goal by the Roosters. A short kick off from the goal line dropout paid off for the Red, White and Blue, as the Jets conceded a penalty for touching the ball before it travelled 10 metres.
Tasipale found his second try of the match in the 28th minute, splitting the defensive line open as he charged onto a Billy Magoulias short ball before beating the fullback and crashing over. The try was converted to extend the Jets’ lead to 18.
Newtown struck again just minutes after their previous try, with an inch-perfect cross-field kick from Trindall being fielded and planted on the try line by winger Matt Ikuvalu.
Advancing the football upfield with a penalty after the kick off, they once more took advantage of their field position with Brad Fearnley charging onto a short ball to cross the stripe, before Hiroti converted from next to the uprights to give the Jets a 28-point advantage over a scoreless Roosters at the break.
A sin-bin to Tuku Hau Tapuha reduced Newtown to 12 men early in the second half, which allowed the Roosters to take advantage of the missing man, crossing the line for their first points of the afternoon as El-Zakhem charged through the defence and reached out to score. Smith converted the try to secure Easts’ first six points of the clash.
The Jets responded with a try of their own just 10 minutes later, with hooker Jayden Berrell poking a kick into the in-goal out of dummy half which was dived on by Jacob Gagan to score. Hiroti’s conversion was successful, extending his side’s lead to 34-6.
They almost crossed the line once more when five-eighth Daniel Atkinson split the Roosters defence up the centre before drawing and passing to Hiroti who dropped the ball cold with nobody in front of him.
An error from Newtown just 20 metres out from their own line handed easy field position to the Tricolours. They capitalised on the opportunity through Thomas Deakin, who scooted out of dummy half and dived over to score untouched. The try was converted to bring Easts’ points tally up to 12.
They struck once more from the resuming kick-off, with Sandon Smith charging through the middle of the field before offloading to fullback Corey Allan who then found Deakin to score his second try in as many minutes. Smith converted from in front to make it 34-18.
Receiving a full set of six right on the Roosters’ try line, the Jets were able to cross once more thanks to a brilliant right-foot step from Atkinson before the try was converted by Hiroti to extend their lead to 40-18.
The Roosters will look to bounce back next week when they host the St George Illawarra Dragons at Wentworth Park on Sunday afternoon.
Sydney Roosters 18 (Elie El-Zakhem, Thomas Deakin 2 Tries; Sandon Smith 3 Goals) def by Newtown Jets 40 (Charbel Tasipale 2, Samuel Stonestreet, Matt Ikuvalu, Brad Fearnley, Jacob Gagan, Daniel Atkinson Tries; Mawene Hiroti 6 goals)
