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Reigning KWIK Premier Grade champions Nedlands began their title defence in style by knocking off arch rivals Cottesloe 56 – 17 in a lopsided rematch between last seasons’ Grand Finalists.
Neddies look the more composed side throughout despite twice being reduced to 14 men during the clash at Harvey Field in Cottesloe.
New Nedlands recruits Tokita Fatai (late tackle) and Davita Iketau (offside) were each shown a yellow card but handling errors and repeated infringements prevented the Seagulls from capitalising on their advantage.
Cottesloe coach Ian Fowler predicted mid-week that there would be some early season jitters at it proved correct as his side repeatedly fumbled the ball and struggled at set pieces.
“Not a great start to the season,” said Fowler.
“We had too many handling errors and our lineouts were a problem area too.
“It's clear that they're a bit further ahead at this point of the season than we are.
“We had a number of players missing but so did they so that's really no excuse.”
Both sides had lost key personnel to the Emirates Western Force ‘A’ with Dave Cloete, Kieran Stringer, Ollie Hoskins and Nick Haining missing from the Gulls lineup while Neddies were without the services ofLuke Doherty, Juan Pretorius and skipper Joe Richie. Will Brock missed the game through suspension.
The physical battle intensified early as Fatai was sent to the bin in the 5th minute following a late hit. That allowed Cott midfielder Tobias Hoskins to open the scoring after he scythed through the gap left by the missing defender and dived over next to the posts.
Jonny O'Connor, brother of Emirates Western Force young gun James, slotted the conversion but it went downhill from there for the home side as the Royal Blues piled on 42 unanswered points.
Neddies captain Mike Denton started the deluge with a penalty before a poor kick by Nathan Hunt was gathered by Mat Venter who danced his way through some shabby Cottesloe defence and dived between the sticks.
Former Cottesloe captain Mason Pamore crossed against his old side after the Seagulls fluffed a lineout in their own 22 and Tane Edwards again exposed the home side's poor defence fending off a tackler to cross for a try of his own. Denton added a penalty and Nedlands went in to the break ahead by 18 points.
Cottesloe appeared re-energised at the start of the second half but repeated mistakes at their own lineout meant they were unable to reap any reward.
Bryce Penny scored the bonus point try for Nedlands against the run of play as the Royal Blues created an overlap well within their own half and the fullback was able to burn his opponent down the sideline.
Three minutes, and a quick lineout later, Neddies were on the score sheet again when Venter dived over in the corner for his second.
With the wind well and truly sucked out of their sails Cottesloe allowed Ritchie Naylor to cross virtually untouched as the holes in an already leaky defence widened.
Nedlands were a man down again when Iketau was shown a yellow card in the 68th minute after his side was warned repeatedly for playing offside. Cottesloe were this time able to make the most of the advantage as tries to Jock Stanley and Nathan Hunt restored a modicum of respectability to the score line.
Fittingly, Nedlands scored the final points of the game when Iketau, who had only just returned to the field, drove over from a lineout in the final minute.
In an ominous warning to the rest of the competition, Neddies coach Tony Ball said he was impressed with his sides’ performance but stressed that there was still plenty of room for improvement.
“We controlled the ball pretty well to start with but we had a few errors begin to slip in towards the end,” said Ball.
“We need to work on maintaining better ball retention for the full eighty minutes.”
Ball was particularly impressed with his two Tongan recruits, Fatai and Iketau despite the fact that both received yellow cards.
“I thought the Tongan boys were outstanding today,” said Ball.
“They ran hard for the advantage line and created a lot of opportunities for us.
“I'm also really happy for Mason, coming back to his old home ground and getting a win over his old side – and a try too.
“This win has given us a solid start to the season and we'll look to build from here.”
In other games Associates started well with a hard fought win against Palmyra (23-14), Kalamunda were too good at home for Wanneroo (30-24), UWA continued their impressive pre-season form to defeat Wests Subiaco (32-15), while last season’s wooden spooners, Perth Bayswater, had a more enjoyable start to 2011 with a one point win over Rockingham (13-12).
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