Topic: NYC half ton again for Junior Warriors

Renee

  • Jason Croker
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NYC half ton again for Junior Warriors
« on: August 01, 2011, 03:59:48 PM »
NYC half ton again for Junior Warriors 

The Vodafone Junior Warriors hit the 50-point mark for the fifth time this season when they beat Canberra 50-14 in Sunday's 21st-round NYC match at Mount Smart Stadium.

Earlier this season, they knocked up half centuries against St George Illawarra (54-24), Penrith (56-26), South Sydney (62-6) and the Sydney Roosters (50-10).

Sunday's result extended their run of home wins to 17 on end stretching back to May last year, 16 of them at Mount Smart Stadium and the other a 'home' match at Eden Park. They've also won two 'away' games played in New Zealand during that period, one against the Roosters in Christchurch last year and the other against Cronulla in Taupo in April.

Winger DJ Collier achieved a significant individual milestone when, with his third conversion of the day, he brought up 200 points for the season. He remains the competition's leading points-scorer while fullback Omar Slaimankhel is still the top try scorer after grabbing another double today to lift his tally to 23 in 19 appearances.

In a repeat of last week's outing against South Sydney, the Vodafone Warriors made a fast start against the Raiders as captain Ben Henry and Slaimankhel scored twice each in the first 31 minutes to help their side to a 24-0. It ballooned to 30-0 right on halftime when Collier tapped back a bomb for Konrad Hurrell to grab his 11th try of the season.

This time the Vodafone Junior Warriors sustained their attack unlike the South Sydney match when they tailed off for much of the second half. On this occasion there were three more tries in the first 16 minutes of the second half, back rower Sebastine Ikahihifo scoring his first try of the year, Samiuela Lousi unstoppable for another and Hurrell and Adam Henry combining to gift utility Sio Siua Taukeiaho the first of his two tries for the match.

At that point there was every prospect the Vodafone Junior Warriors might top the 62 points they put on the Rabbitohs a few weeks back. However, they failed to carry on with it over the final 24 minutes coming up with only one more try for Taukeiaho, the product of a nice interchange between him and Slaimankhel.

In that period the Raiders scored two more tries but couldn't escape the fact they'd conceded exactly 100 points in the space of six days after being hammered 50-12 by the Dragons last Monday night.

The Vodafone Junior Warriors just failed to hit 700 points for the season, finishing the day on 699 - easily the best attacking record - and they also have the best defensive record now as well (378 points) after the previous best the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs were pumped 50-8 by the Sydney Roosters on Saturday night.

Match details:

At Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland
Vodafone Junior Warriors 50 (Ben Henry 2, Omar Slaimankhel 2, Sio Siua Taukeiaho 2, Konrad Hurrell, Sebastine Ikahihifo, Samiuela Lousi tries; DJ Collier 7 conversions).
Canberra Raiders 14 (Edrick Lee, Sami Sauiluma, Jack Wighton tries; Chris Medcalf conversion).
Halftime: 30-0 Vodafone Junior Warriors.
Referee: Craig Pascoe.

Source: rleague.com