Roosters Firsts beaten in minor semi-final

The Woy Woy Roosters first grade campaign has ended after they were beaten 22-18 by Terrigal in the Central Coast Rugby League minor semi-final.

In a scrappy game that saw both sides turn over a considerable amount of ball, the Roosters failed to haul in the premiers 10 point half time advantage.

During a nail biting final five minutes, the red and whites attacked the Sharks line in search of a match salvaging try only to be thwarted by poor handling and stoic Terrigal defence.

Despite a completion rate that would have turned the youngest of coach's grey, Woy Woy looked to have found a last gasp winner when big Jake Shearer galloped onto a Chris Hyde pass to dive over out wide.

Sadly, for the Roosters, the referee disallowed the try, ruling that the pass had been thrown marginally forward.

During the games earliest exchanges, the Roosters appeared to be suffering a hangover from their crushing 48-0 loss to Wyong during the opening week of the finals.

Mack Fawcett's team began the game very slowly, which enabled Terrigal to race to an early 10-0 lead.

Mid way through the half however, they came to life with tries scored by Guy Pearson and Blake Mattei after fine lead up work from Zane Rickit and Chris Hyde respectively.

Woy Woy held a 12-10 advantage in the shadows of half time before two Sharks tries in as many minutes opened up a 22-12 score line at the break.

The second period saw both sides fumble and bumble their way through the 40 minutes with the only score of the period being a Zane Rickit try scored at the foot of an inactive Erina Oval scoreboard.

The deficit was pulled back to four when Chris Hyde kicked his third conversion of the afternoon; his second booming effort from the left sideline.

During the final quarter of an hour, the game looked to be there for the taking as Terrigal sat on their lead.

Yet time after time, the Steeden hit the turf and Woy Woy's flurry of late attacking raids did ultimately yield nothing but frustration for the Roosters fans sprinkled in amongst the smallish Erina Oval crowd.

SOURCE:

Media release, 3 Sep 2018

Andrew Stark, Gosford Kariong Storm RLFC