THE Jamberoo Superoos have continued their unbeaten start to the 2019 Group Seven season after downing Nowra-Bomaderry Jets 24-16 in a tight and physical encounter at Nowra Showground.
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The win was well-deserved as the visitors scored five tries to two, however it wasn't until an opportunist try from Jamberoo centre Jake Clarke in the final minutes that his side was able to secure the win.
The match took a heavy toll on both sides on the injury front, with both teams dug-outs looking like casualty wards, however in the end it was the Superoos who came out on top.
The match opened at a frantic pace, with both sides looking sharp and it was Jets captain/coach Dylan Farrell who opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a close-range penalty and it took until the 27th minute before the first try when, after forcing a repeat set, Mark Asquith sent a perfect short ball to centre Simon Maslanka, who steamed into a hole 10 metres out to score out wide for the Superoos to lead 4-2.
It wasn't long before Farrell levelled the scores with another penalty, but with half-time closing in, the visitors were able to convert pressure into points when Superoos captain/coach Jono Dallas dummied his way over out wide, and despite Dean Watling hitting the posts with a sideline conversion, Jamberoo were able to go to the long break ahead 8-4.
The second half started very much the same as the first as both sides tried to gain momentum, however it was a wayward pass in the 55th minute that really turned the game.
From deep on the attack, Jake Gould, who was filling in at fullback, threw a long ball and Dallas swooped, racing 70 metres with Gould and Farrell in hot pursuit, to score in the grandstand corner.
Watling nailed the conversion superbly from touch and Jamberoo looked like they were well on their way at 14-4.
To the Jets credit they managed their first try in the 62nd minute when a great grubber-kick from Farrell found centre Ryan James and the coach landed the conversion to close the gap to just four.
The see-sawing nature of the second half continued just five minutes later when James Asquith sent front-rower Matt Webster crashing over for his first-ever try in his fourth season for the Superoos and Watling converted for 20-10.
The trend continued when five-eighth Josh Coulter chipped over the top for replacement winger Brayden Rumble-Walsh to cross right in the corner and Farrell again converted to give them a sniff at 20-16 with just three minutes to go.
That was all undone when the Jamberoo kick-off landed between three Jets players who let the ball bounce and Superoo centre Jake Clarke took the ball on the fly and beat one defender to wrap up the game.
In a gutsy effort, Dallas, Brock Skelly, Maslanka, Kieran Pierce and Clarke had big games for the Superoos, while Farrell, Coulter, Nathan Deaves and Tyson Simpson were best for the Jets.