The nib Newcastle Knights ISP were defeated by the Newtown Jets 58-4 at Cessnock Sports Ground on Saturday afternoon.
The opening minutes of the match saw the Jets open the scoring in what would be an enormous attacking display against the Knights, with five-eighth Jack Williams putting a short kick in-goal for centre Ruebenn Rennie in the second minute. Kyle Flanagan was unsuccessful in converting the try.
Back to back penalties saw the Knights have majority possession on the Jets line however series of solid defence from the Jets made the Knights remain scoreless.
In the 11th minute, a sideline to sideline play saw the Jets shift the ball from Sione Katoa who looked certain to score before falling short of the line to the far left where winger Matt Evans found a gap and put another four points on the board for the Jets.’
In the 17th minute the Jets turned up the heat with fullback William Kennedy putting a grubber through for himself and Flanagan converted the try to bring the Jets up 14-0.
A poor read in Knights’ defence saw a line break from halfway, and saw Flanagan cross the line and convert his own try.
Two tries in quick succession saw Jets’ Kennedy get his second and Scott Sorenson cross for his first minutes before half time. Flanagan converted one of two, and took the Jets into half time leading the Knights 30-0.
The second half began much the same as the first, with the Knights controlling the ball on the Jets line for back-to-back sets, however they couldn’t break the defence and remained scoreless.
The first touch for the Jets in the second half saw more points when an error from the Knights gave Evans his second try in the 48th minute. Flanagan converted the try and extended the lead for the Jets.
It was looking like all hope was lost for the Knights with the Jets continuing their dominating display, scoring three tries in ten minutes.
Rennie crossed the line on the left side for his second, Evans received his hat trick after another sideline-to-sideline play and prop Braden Uele crossed for his first after a dropped ball from the Knights in the 68th minute. Flanagan converted two from three in this period and brought the Jets to a massive 52-0 lead.
The Jets didn’t ease up in the dying minutes of the game with Katoa crossing the line with nine minutes remaining, ensuring he didn’t miss a slice of the pie. Flanagan converted the try, bringing the Jets to a 58-point lead.
As the dust settled in the dying moments of the game the Knights proved that they weren’t going to go down without a fight.
A clever read from dummy half saw the Knights surge over the line, with Tyrone Amey receiving the ball from a short pass and bringing the Knights off a nil score. Jack Cogger couldn’t convert and the Knights remained at 4 going into fulltime at a 54-point deficit.
Newtown Jets 58 (T: Evans 3, Rennie 2, Kennedy 2, Flanagan, Sorensen, Uele, Katoa, G: Flanagan 7/11)
Newcastle Knights 4 (T: Amey, G: Cogger 0/1)
