Mug Fan
SGI NSW Cup
Hunter SHS v Illawarra SHS
The Illawarra Sports High premiership dream is well and truly alive.
For a school that has had to overcome hurdles at almost every stage, it was little wonder they had the resolve to overcome a controversial penalty try call to come-from-behind in the preliminary final.
Dragons young gun Seluki Halangahu scored a bulldozing four-pointer in the final 10 minutes to steal the dramatic 22-20 win over Hunter Sports High.
Halangahu’s try in the dying stages helped overturn a two-point deficit after Hunter had been controversially awarded a penalty try when halfback Tayden Hay appeared to be pushed off the ball as he attempted to ground his own grubber kick.
The penalty try came largely against the run of play and helped stem a run of three-straight Illawarra Sports High tries.
Illawarra trailed by as much as 14 points midway through the first half after Hunter Sports High were shot out of a cannon early in the contest.
Fresh off a move to fullback Will Manning sent an early scare through his rivals when he spun his way through four defenders on his way to an easy try.
When Hunter try-scoring machine Kade McKay stepped his way back through some soft defence 10 minutes later it appeared the final was going to be a one-sided affair.
Illawarra needed a spark and they found it in the form of dynamic fullback Cooper Morrison.
The Dragons-contracted speedster has been the cornerstone of Illawarra’s successful campaign and he proved it again when it mattered most.
The fullback helped set-up two tries in the Illawarra fight back, working in tandem with classy five-eighth Kahui Chase to set up Jake Walsh on the stroke of halftime.
Mace Scofield then clawed them further back after the break after he fought his way through a handful of would-be defenders to crash over under the sticks, before Morrison then injected himself into the contest again when he set up Hunter Berghuis for the lead.
The Illawarra Sports High premiership dream is well and truly alive.
For a school that has had to overcome hurdles at almost every stage, it was little wonder they had the resolve to overcome a controversial penalty try call to come-from-behind in the preliminary final.
Dragons young gun Seluki Halangahu scored a bulldozing four-pointer in the final 10 minutes to steal the dramatic 22-20 win over Hunter Sports High.
Halangahu’s try in the dying stages helped overturn a two-point deficit after Hunter had been controversially awarded a penalty try when halfback Tayden Hay appeared to be pushed off the ball as he attempted to ground his own grubber kick.
The penalty try came largely against the run of play and helped stem a run of three-straight Illawarra Sports High tries.
Illawarra trailed by as much as 14 points midway through the first half after Hunter Sports High were shot out of a cannon early in the contest.
Fresh off a move to fullback Will Manning sent an early scare through his rivals when he spun his way through four defenders on his way to an easy try.
When Hunter try-scoring machine Kade McKay stepped his way back through some soft defence 10 minutes later it appeared the final was going to be a one-sided affair.
Illawarra needed a spark and they found it in the form of dynamic fullback Cooper Morrison.
The Dragons-contracted speedster has been the cornerstone of Illawarra’s successful campaign and he proved it again when it mattered most.
The fullback helped set-up two tries in the Illawarra fight back, working in tandem with classy five-eighth Kahui Chase to set up Jake Walsh on the stroke of halftime.
Mace Scofield then clawed them further back after the break after he fought his way through a handful of would-be defenders to crash over under the sticks, before Morrison then injected himself into the contest again when he set up Hunter Berghuis for the lead.
