Wellington recorded just its second Group 11 win since the start of the 2016 season on Saturday night and the Cowboys did it in style, brushing aside Westside 54-16.
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Westside has now conceded 202 points in three games and captain-coach Colt Tairua was left disappointed after the match under lights at Caltex Park while Wellington counterpart Aidan Ryan was delighted with his side.
Wellington wasted no time putting points on the board as Will Lousick crashed over the line inside the first five minutes.
Back-to-back penalties against Westside didn’t help in its cause and Norman West soon put more points on the board for the Cowboys.
Just when it looked as though Westside was gaining momentum the ball was recouped by Cowboy Shannon Ireland who scored before an instant response from Rabbitohs’ Brayden Peachey made it 14-4.
Nathan Ryan scored Westside’s second try of the night in a desperate bid to reduce the margin further but the Cowboys were having none of it as they squeezed in one more ahead of half time through Brian Baxter.
The match was still within Westside’s reach when the match resumed and Steve Riley scored inside the first two minutes back to further reduce the margin.
But the hope was short-lived for the men in red and green as Wellington ran rampant.
Slippery in attack the Cowboys capitalised on a penalty to score their first of five tries in second half.
Wellington captain-coach Ryan, West, Baxter and Hayden Sutherland ran in the remainder in just over 10 minutes to put the nail in the coffin and secure their first win of the season.
Tairua was left dejected after the match, confessing his side still wasn’t at the required level.
“We went alright for about half an hour but we just struggled to get back into the second half,” Tairua said.
“We didn’t come out of the sheds with our heads on and we got put to the sword.
“It’s disappointing – we’re still a club trying to build, we don’t have the best players or the most money but these boys that put the jerseys on each week show a lot of heart and character and I think just keeping this club surviving is a success in itself.
“I guess obviously these big scores don’t look good and we need to work on a few things.”
Ryan was thrilled with the result and stated he is keen to head into the round four match against Narromine after such a convincing win.
“That’s our second win in two years so pretty stoked for the boys,” he said.
“We still haven’t played with a full squad yet so the boys who put in there it was a tremendous effort.
“Westside grind away but they’re just a bit unfit so if they get a bit fitter they will be really competitive.”