Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles made it two wins in a row following a convincing 50-30 victory over the Western Suburbs Magpies in round 12 of the NSW Cup today..
Despite an 18-16 deficit at the break, the Sea Eagles came out in the second half at HE Laybutt Field, Blacktown, to score seven tries enroute to their big victory.
Full-back Clayton Faulalo and winger Jaxson Paulo ran rampant with four tries each to take their season tallies to nine and five respectively.
The scoreline could have been even more greater had five-eighth Jamie Humphreys been on song, landing just three from 11 attempts, with a majority of them coming from tough angles on the sideline.
Blacktown Workers prop Aaron Woods was complacent with the victory and talked about what the side needed to work on ahead of their clash against the Bears next week.
“It was disappointing defensively. It’s not the mindset we wanted to come in with , especially after last week. We were really happy with our performance (last week), this was just rubbish,'' Woods said.
“We've got to get our head right. We play a North Sydney side that are really good next Sunday, we can’t dish out that against them.
"We could tell from the first set that we gave them too much possession in our half, it just wasn’t good enough."
The win moves Blacktown to 12 competition points to sit in ninth place.
Some silly mistakes saw Magpies props Jordan Miller and Tallyn Da Silva give the visitors a 12-0 lead lead after 14 minutes.
Blacktown hit back with a try through Faulalo after hooker Kobe Rugless switched the ball down the short side for his full-back to cross for a 12-4 scoreline.
Four minutes later, winger Watson Heleta crossed off a good cut-out pass from halfback Jake Arthur to make it 12-8.
Blacktown levelled the score in the 29th minute with a sensational try as Faulalo crossed for his second after defusing an attempted grubber kick at his own 20-metre line to race away for a 12-all scoreline.
The Sea Eagles took the lead seven minutes from the break with a try in the corner through Paulo off a perfectly placed pass from Arthur to make it 16-12.
The lead didn’t last long as the Magpies quickly hit back in the 36th minute, with winger Solomone Saukuru diving over in the corner for an 18-16 scoreline heading into the break.
It didn’t take long to see a try in the second half, with Blacktown forward Caleb Navale crashing over next to the posts in the 43rd minute to take a 22-18 lead.
Momentum shifted completely in favour of the home side as the Sea Eagles scored again two minutes later through Arthur. The crafty halfback pushed past two defenders to reach out to ground the ball for a 28-18 scoreline.
Blacktown pounced on a fatigued Magpies side to score their seventh try in the 53rd minute through Paulo to make it 32-18.
After a bit of luck and some razzle-dazzle, Paulo crossed for his hat-trick in the 59th minute off a crossfield kick from Arthur for 38-18.
After defusing the short kick-off and being awarded a penalty, the Sea Eagles continued their scintillating form two minutes later as Paulo scored his fourth, extending the lead to 42-18.
The Magpies hit back in the 66th minute through Sione Fainu before a brilliant individual effort from Faulalo saw him cross for his hat-trick after swooping on the ball off a kick to beat three defenders to make it 46-24.
Blacktown hit 50 with eight minutes to play as Faulalo dived over for his fourth before the Magpies scored a consolation try in the final minute through Solomona Faataape for the 50-30 scoreline.
Blacktown Workers now take on the North Sydney Bears in round 13 of the NSW Cup at HE Laybutt Field on Sunday, June 2 at 3pm.
Sea Eagles 50 (Faulalo 4, Paulo 4, Heleta, Navale, Arthur tries, Humphreys 3 goals) d Magpies 30 (Miller 7, Da Silva 14, Saukuru, Fainu, Faataape tries; Da Silva 5 goals).
