Super Cougars taking prime playoff position
CASUARINA put themselves in prime position to snatch a major semi-final spot by beating Darwin Dragons 45-15 at Rugby Park last night.
Cougars moved into second with a dominant win over University last weekend and they transferred their red hot form into the opening stages of yesterday’s contest.
The first 20 minutes was all Casuarina, before Dragons fought their way back midway through the first half.
Cougars’ first try came within the first five minutes through Simaika Salee when he crashed over in the left corner.
Zac Phillips – who controlled proceedings brilliantly from fly-half – broke the line on the back of a scrum 15 metres out soon after. He laid off a beautiful pass to Salee who strolled over under the posts for his second.
The outside centre could have had a third inside 20 minutes, but he unselfishly passed to Sion Thomas who went over untouched to extend Cougars’ lead to 19 points.
Dragons found their feet midway through the first 40 and for 10 minutes won the battle for field position. It led to a barge over try from short range, before a penalty goal cut the margin to 11.
For all Dragons hard work to get back into the game, a cruel blow was landed after the half time siren.
Casuarina peppered the try line with an attacking raid that lasted 10 phases.
The pressure proved too much and Bobby Nurse found his way across to make the score 26-8 at the break.
Victory was all but assured 10 minutes into the second stanza when Owen Griggs scored Cougars’ sixth try.
However, the match was turned on its head when the referee produced three yellow cards in five minutes. The first went to Dragons, before two Cougars were sent within the space of 60 seconds for separate infringements.
The extra man helped Joeseph Afu break the Cougars defence to score and cut the margin to 18 with a quarter of the match to play. That was as close as Dragons would come though, as Casuarina scored two late tries to blow out the margin.
Cougars need to beat Palmerston comfortably next week to ensure a top two finish and a major semi-final clash with South Darwin.