Arrive alive Cup

Last Friday 27th June, the Sydney Football Stadium played host to the first Tier A match up of the Arrive alive Cup for 2008. Two of the competition heavyweights, St Dominc's College and Westfields Sports went head to head, with St Dominc's College coming away with a hard fought 16-6 win.

In the early stages of the match both teams were guilty of handling errors and poor last tackle options. As a result neither team could gain the early momentum. However after the sides settled in to a rythm Westfields Sports looked dangerous. In an attempt to gain an early lead Westfields Sports launched an attack down the left hand edge of the St Dominic's defense, however it was Blake Austin who snatched an intercept to put the Penrith side deep into opposition territory. From this St Dominic's scored the opening try in the right hand corner through fullback Malakai Watene-Zelezniak.

Not long after St Dominic's grabbed a second intercept try through centre John Feiloakitau-Fetuani who was sensational for St Dominic's all afternooon. This established a 10-0 lead for St Dominic's College. Westfields Sports looked likely to hit back with points of their own. Westfields hooker Simon Teaupa, who was strong in both attack & defense looked to have got his side on the scoreboard only for his pass to Francis Lemalie to be ruled forward. Westfields Sports fullback Keith Wicks played an excellent first half and looked dangerous on several occasions.

The second half began with back to back penalties being awarded to Westfields Sports. Front rower Tom Pelo was outstanding for Westfields all day, and after losing the ball over the line he hit back to crash over for a try. Jaydin Tavita added the extras and reduced the deficit to 10-6. In a seesawing contest St Dominic's then seemed to grab the momentum and came close to scoring on two occasions. The contest grew in intensity and the match became a very physical contest.

It appeared Westfields Sports were set to steal victory in the final stages as they enjoyed a wealth of possession close to the opposition line. Westfields were held up over the line twice thanks to some desperate goalline defense from St Dominic's. This proved to be the difference in the end and in the final minutes Watene-Zelezniak ran onto a great inside ball and cut through a tired Westfields defensive line to score and put the result beyond doubt. St Dominic's ran out eventual winners 16-6 to advance to the next round of the Arrive alive Cup.

Feiloakitau-Fetuani was sensationalfor the winning side, looking dangerous on many occasions. Prop Royce Hura was also outstanding for St Dominic's. For Westfield's Jaydin Tavita was strong and looked dangerous at times. The match was an exciting affair and indicates the strength of the sides involved in this year's competion.