BATEMANS Bay is playing like a team that could be a real threat in this year’s South Coast Group 7 competition after it dished out a 56-14 thrashing of the Berry Magpies on Saturday.
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The Tigers first softened and then dominated Berry with minimal mistakes, a tough forward pack and the quick-stepping, sharp-shooting boots of Willy Newton to claim a 42-point victory and show that last round’s 44-14 thrashing of Milton-Ulladulla was no fluke.
The first 20 minutes were scoreless and Berry looked as though they could make a game of it.
However, once the flurry of penalties conceded by the Magpies started, the Tigers made good field position and Gerard Dennis cut through the Berry defence to post first points.
Willy Newton started his perfect 10 from 10 by converting the try for 6-nil.
The Tigers added to their tally shortly after when the Berry defence fell for a Newton dummy and he was untouched scoring under the posts and then converting for 12-nil.
Berry fought back in the 31st minute when Mitch Liddicoat who scored next to the posts for 12-6.
However, it went pear-shaped for the Magpies as Batemans Bay punished the home side for every error.
A Berry knock-on led to a second converted Newton try for 18-6 and two minutes later, Berry conceded another penalty.
That was followed by a backline move that ended with Mitch Freeman crossing next to the touchline for a 24-6 lead at half-time.
Newton added two points straight after the break before the Magpies crossed out wide through Dean Tyson.
Grant Roberts made his presence felt in the 18th minute when he barged over the line under the posts to make the score 32-10.
Two minutes later it was a carbon copy try when Roberts again crashed across the line.
From the Berry kick-off, Adam Stone cut through the flimsy Berry defence to run almost the length of the field before passing the ball inside to Newton who scored his third try and then converted for 44-10.
The next kick off for Berry ended with the same result when Brodie Ralph, after already making 45 tackles, sprinted 40 metres down the wing before offloading to Mason Harrison to take the score to 48-10.
Newton brought up the half-century off the boot with 10 minutes left on the clock.
Deryck Fox’s side then decided to try something different and went to the sky through a towering Rhys Burrozor bomb.
Freeman gathered the ball up high and fell to the ground to score his second try.
Berry five-eighth Chris McCarron scored right on full-time to make the score 56-14.
“The players did everything I asked of them and more today,” Fox said after the match.