A third consecutive game on the road proved too challenging for the Vodafone Warriors when they were beaten 26-12 by Newcastle in their 23rd-round New South Wales Cup clash at St John’s Oval on Saturday.
Despite the third straight defeat, the Vodafone Warriors are hanging onto seventh spot on 27 points but face competition from Cronulla (26) and Wyong (26) plus Newtown (25) in their bid to seal a finals spot.
The encounter with the Knights was scoreless after the first quarter but from then on the home side called the tune with two converted tries and a penalty providing a 14-0 buffer at halftime.
In the opening 10 minutes of the second spell the contest was effectively out of the Vodafone Warriors’ reach as Newcastle engineered two quick strikes for a 26-0 lead.
Despite the score-line they staged a strong finish with three unconverted tries.
Dominique Peyroux struck from dummy half and Ken Maumalo had the second in the 65th minute. Neither try was converted leaving the Vodafone Warriors down 8-26 with 15 minutes to play.
Their final try finished by Jarrod Tua featured plenty of razzle dazzle but it was but a consolation effort in the end.
The result left the Vodafone Warriors facing an absolute must-win clash against Newtown at Mount Smart Stadium No 2 on Saturday.
Match details | St John’s Oval, Newcastle
Newcastle Knights 26 (Clint Newton 2, Honeti Tuha, James Elias tries; Michael Dobson 4 conversions, penalty).
Vodafone Warriors 12 (Dominique Peyroux, Ken Maumalo, Jarrod Tua tries).
Halftime: 14-0 Knights.
Referee: Chris Treneman.
Vodafone Warriors: Steve Waetford (c); Ngataua Hukatai, Dominique Peyroux, Solomone Kata, Jarrod Tua; Carlos Tuimavave, Michael Sio; Sam Lousi, Siliva Havili, Upu Poching; Raymond Faitala-Mariner, John Palavi; Agnatius Paasi. Interchange: Albert Vete, Ken Maumalo, Abraham Papalii, David Bhana.
