Jamberoo continues fairytale comeback - Superoos surge into final three

In a penalty-riddled, often spiteful encounter that featured five players being sent to the sin bin and the last minute send off of Magpies’ hooker Paul Skewes, the Superoos maintained their composure enough to end Berry’s season and continue their dream return to first grade.

A wave of early penalties gifted the home side a ton of strong field position and they responded with tries to Josh Cuthbert and inspirational skipper Matt Schubert within the opening 10 minutes for 8-nil.

The second try came on the back of the sin binning of Magpies’ fullback James Dean for dissent.

It was then Jamberoo’s turn to display a period of ill-discipline, as a succession of infractions lead to plenty of ball at the money end of the field for Berry.

Pivot Sam Burns took full advantage, scoring a four-pointer himself and then put centre Aaron Pont over in the corner for 10-8.

With tensions simmering between the two sides, Berry’s Gavin Jarratt was binned from a professional foul and Jamberoo capitalised when fullback Bart Thompson crossed the stripe for a 14-10 buffer.

Josh Elliott also reaped the rewards of the 12-man Berry defensive line by scoring a converted try.

In keeping with the pattern established earlier in the half, following the sin binning of the Roos’ interchange player Tim Shepstone, Dean dished out a lovely flick pass for Jason Patterson to score in the corner and reduce the half-time deficit to six points.

Both sides upped the ante in terms of niggle and physicality in the second half and it was perhaps not surprising when Sam Burns and Jamberoo’s Matt Coelho were both given 10 minutes not long after the resumption.

Just minutes later, the Superoos’ Aaron Smith took advantage of an overlap for 24-14 and in the blink of an eye, try-scoring whiz Michal Maslanka finished off a classy backline movement to push further ahead to 30-14.

Berry displayed the grit and determination that has been a significant feature of its play this season, some Skewes magic sending Patterson over for his second and cutting the lead to 12 points with 20 minutes remaining.

The unlikely comeback was snuffed out though, Elliott’s second try in the 69th minute proving to be the match-winner.

Superoos hooker Adam McGrath latched onto an intercept in the dying seconds of the match to further blow out the scoreline.

With the full-time siren about to sound, Skewes was sent off for abusing the officials.

The Superoos will now play at Kiama Showground this Sunday for a place in this year’s decider.

Elliott, Chris Pitt and Schubert were the standouts for Jamberoo, while Sam Burns, Skewes and Patterson were the best for Berry.