The Cessnock Goannas claimed another highly-ranked scalp when they defeated Central 24-14 in the elimination semi-final at St. John Oval on Saturday.
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Although the final score shows there was not much between the teams, the Goannas dominated the game right from the opening tackle when Al Lantry pulled off one of the biggest hits in years on the Central halfback and set the trend for the rest of the match.
Kerrod Holland opened the scoring when he supported a good Kori Barber line break to race away for a try under the posts and converted to lead 6-0.
Central then had a lot of possession but were easily contained by a well-organised Cessnock defence.
The Goannas were in again in the 27th minute when Barber received a great inside pass from Brendon Williams to go over untouched.
Central again had plenty of possession leading into half-time and eventually crossed out wide to make the half time score 10-6.
At the break Goannas coach Steve Kidd was extremely positive about how the team had played and he asked the players to maintain their enthusiasm in defence, and said they had laid a great platform to take out the game.
Cessnock scored again early in the second half through rugged halfback Joel Brown when, after sustained pressure, he brushed aside a defender to score out wide. Holland landed a great conversion to make to score 16-4.
The Goannas were now in complete control, and when Riley Brown made a break and kicked ahead for Chris Pyne to score it looked like the floodgates were about to open, but Central hung in there and were rewarded with a converted try to close the score to 20-10.
Shaun Metcalf charged through some feeble defence in the 67th minute, taking the score to 24-10.
Central crossed for a late try to improve the scoreline but the game had been convincingly won by this stage.
Al Lantry was the best player on the field, enjoying his move back into the forwards, while back rowers Barber and McKendry also continued their great late-season form.
The return of Kerrod Holland from illness at fullback added plenty of thrust to the Goannas’ attack while Riley and Joel Brown directed the team around well.
The under-23s were narrowly beaten by Wests by 18-16 and were eliminated from the competition.
Cessnock held a good lead until late in the match, but after Wests regained the lead the side tended to panic when in position to score.
Cessnock’s tries were scored by Ben Rose, Sam Wilson and Jarrod Harris while Justin Wearing kicked two goals. Cal Orchard had an outstanding match and he was well supported by Jay McCord, Zaine Morgan and Alex Davey.
It turned out to be a frustrating finish to the year as Cessnock had recently beaten all the top teams and looked a good chance to threaten for the under-23s title.
The club congratulated coach Steve Dunstan and all his players for their efforts this season.
The under-18s had a convincing 30-16 win over Kurri to progress to the next round of finals.
Cessnock only made three mistakes for the whole match, which was outstanding considering the wet, muddy conditions.
Tries were scored by Bailey Bromage, Arch Dustan, Tate See, Reed Hugo and Liam Mears while Tom Rinkin and Bromage landed the goals.
In the conditions it was a forwards-dominate encounter with Hugo, Dan Jurd, Jakob Brown and Sam Apthorpe all having good games.
The Goannas will travel to Toronto on Sunday to play Macquarie in a sudden-death encounter. The first game will be at 10.30am and the club hopes to see plenty of fans at the game.
