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By RugbyWA Media
Contributors: Josh Zimmerman
Cottesloe has earned a place in the KWIK Premier Grade preliminary final after putting an end to Associates playoff hopes with a 28-13 victory at Pat O’Hara Reserve, their ninth win in a row.
Cott, grand finalists in 2010, looked all but gone at the midway point of this campaign but has strung together an incredible sequence of matches, the best of any side in 2011, to not only finish 3rd after the regular season but appear to be the best placed side to dethrone reigning champions Nedlands.
The Seagulls thou must get past UWA next weekend, a team they’ve split results against in their two clashes this season.
Uni took the points against Cottesloe in week 8 with a 42 – 31 win at Harvey Field while Cott repaid the favour at McGillivray Oval just three weeks ago, recording a 34 – 24 victory away from home.
Cott thou will have plenty of confidence on the back of their impressive winning run and the fact they’ve knocked arch rivals Associates out of the finals.
In a physical contest characterised by fierce defence from both sides, Cottesloe made the most of their limited opportunities while an abundance of handling errors snuffed out most of Soaks momentum.
“It was a close match but Cott just played better than us today,” said Associates Coach Ryan Parkin.
“We had plenty of opportunities but we just didn't get the points on the board.
“It was handling, some poor decisions, we had our chances but we just didn't make the most of them.
“It definitely could have gone our way but it wasn't our day.”
Soaks slippery hands can be attributed to more than just play off nerves however as the aggressive Seagulls were once again excellent when defending, rushing up off their line quickly and effectively shutting down Associates backs.
“I think our first half defence was excellent,” said Cottesloe Coach Ian Fowler.
“Building a lead while playing into the wind was crucial.
“Our defence has been the key and that's what we focused on during the week.
“To their credit they kept coming at us and were really competitive at the break down as always. Associates are a good side so I’m very happy to get the win today.”
The large contingent of supporters who made the trip up to Morley for the game watched the sides slug it out for 35 minutes before the first points were scored.
Windy and overcast conditions made goal kicking difficult and Associates flyhalf Matt Dreyer, playing with the wind at his back in the first half, missed two penalties and Cottesloe's David Cloete one before Tobias Hoskins finally broke the deadlock just before the break.
Seagulls flyhalf Sam Parker managed to slip through Soaks' defensive line after an attacking lineout and offloaded to Hoskins who crashed over next to the posts with Cloete converting.
Dreyer finally found his range for Associates to land a penalty in the 40th minute that made the half time score 7 – 3.
Cottesloe began the second half with the wind and quickly added a penalty to their tally when soaks were caught offside in the five minutes after the restart.
Dreyer missed another shot at goal but made up for it shortly afterwards scything straight through Cottesloe's line before drilling a perfect pass to outside centre Aamon Matuato who scored under the posts.
Dreyer added the extras but the scores did not remain level for long as a moment of magic from Cott winger Nathan Hunt saw him receive the ball on the touchline and execute a perfectly weighted chip kick which he gathered himself before breezing past the last defender for the try.
“You expect that pretty regularly out of Hunty,” Fowler said.
“That's the sort of thing that he can do for you and why we love having him.”
Cloete slotted the conversion and added a couple of penalties (Dreyer also managed one) to stretch his side's lead to ten with ten minutes to play.
Associates scored a try to fullback Nigel Staniforth with five minutes to go but any hope of a repeat of the come from behind victory they managed to fashion against UWA last weekend was soon dashed as Cott’s Conor Caldwell barged over a minute later for what would be the last points of the game.
“It's a cliché to say one week at the time but that's how we're approaching things,” said Fowler.
“Obviously you've got to have an end goal to be thinking about in the back of your mind.
“Next week we play UWA who have been a good side and they'll come back hard from yesterday so we've just got to be ready to knock them over.”
Results from Sunday, 21 August 2011
Minor semi-finals: KWIK Premier Grade: Cottesloe 28 bt Associates 13. Reserve Grade: Cottesloe 34 bt Associates 17. U20s: Associates 33 bt UWA 10. U18s Div 1: Wests Subiaco 20 bt Wanneroo 7. U18s Div 2: ARKs 18 bt Palmyra 10. 3rd Grade Black: Palmyra 13 bt Cottesloe 9. 4th Grade Black: Wests Subiaco 23 bt Rockingham 12.
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