ARKS Rugby Union Club kept their Pindan Championship finals hopes alive with a 19-10 win over Curtin University at Harrisdale Field.
Despite a dominant second-half effort, ARKS just missed out on a vital bonus point, which meant they remained one point behind fourth-placed Curtin with a game to play.
ARKS now need to beat third-placed Mandurah next week and hope Curtin slip up against seventh-placed Perth Irish in order to play finals.
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READ NOWBoth sides knew they were effectively playing for a finals berth and the intensity showed, as the first half was characterised by fierce tackling and strong defence.
ARKS’ Joseph Kapua and Curtin’s Alex Cousner traded tries to leave the game evenly poised at 5-5 at half time.
However, the hosts pulled away early in the second half thanks to Tamaraua Cassidy and Kash Bentley tries which swung the game in their favour.
They continued to press, searching for a fourth try which would have given them a bonus point, and twice crossed the try line, only to be denied on both occasions by the assistant referee.
Curtin grabbed a late consolation try and although they missed the conversion, which denied the visitors a bonus point, ARKS were left disappointed they could not find the elusive fourth try.
Earlier, ARKS’ B-Grade side consolidated their top four spot with a Ben Russell hat-trick inspiring them to a 41-10 win over their Curtin counterparts.
Russell gathered the loose ball from kick-off to open the scoring within the opening 20 seconds and Karlos Amalfitano added another to tie it up at 10-10 at half time.
However, ARKS overran their opponents in the second half, as Russel added another two, Amalfatino grabbed a second and Jardon Hohepa and Corey Broughton also added tries to seal a superb victory.
ARKS’ Under 20’s went down 41-10 in a battling display to Perth-Bayswater.
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