KINGS OF THE MOTLOP SHIELD
Younger and Chettle both score braces in big victory
NORTHERN Sharks showed plenty of guts to see out their 22-12 win over Litchfield Bears, while Nightcliff retained the Chico Motlop Shield in round 7 of the NRL NT competition.
Litchfield kicked off with all of the momentum, big Dillan Vanderberg using his typical running game while also showing off his kicking ability.
It was captain Luke Mahood that made sure that early ascendancy didn’t go to waste, running a difficult line to secure the first score.
Sharks were quick to react and showed their quality, intercepting the ball in the leadup to a try of their own through Stephen Fairweather.
The side in blue continued to poke and prod at the Litchfield line, but despite strong carries from Mitchell Burke, William Nicholaidis and Thomas Gunn, they saw many chances wasted against the Bears defence. That was until Damien Mick found himself 5m out, putting in a smart grubber to set up Cooper Segeyaro for a try. Neither side took much of an advantage in the opening 10 minutes of the second half, trading carries.
Until Bears’ Alex Marchant burst through the line knocking aside defenders on his way to a try.
Sharks were quick to react with Suliasi Tavodi showing his ball carrying skills in the lead up to a powerful bulldozing try from Kaileb Coventry.
And while Litchfield was still banging at the door late in the game it was Sharks who sealed the deal with Gunn dotting down the final try of the day. Sharks coach PD Downes felt that although his side made things hard for themselves at times it showed plenty of guts to claim the win.
“We didn’t always make it easy for ourselves, but we got the job done which is always what you want,” Downes said.
“Our discipline let us down a little bit at times.
“But when we got ahead it was sticking to our processes.
“It was a gutsy performance by the whole team in the end. We had a couple troops go down a little early but we absorbed the pressure.”
Nightcliff secured the important Chico Motlop shield with a 58-8 win over South Darwin, with captain Brent Crisp named best-on-ground for the game.
The Rabbitohs started well, scoring the opener but quickly the Dragons returned to the fore with Wise Sekitoga scoring three tries.
Karl Younger and hardrunning wing Clint Chettle both scored braces for the winning side.
Meanwhile, Darwin Brothers pulled off a confidenceboosting win, beating table leaders Palmerston Raiders 24-22.
The reigning premiers were down 22-10 at halftime. But they rallied against the 12-man Raiders, missing a sent-off Tom Murphy, to get the win.