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Rugby union: Wests Scarborough piles on second-half points for 39-0 win over Kalamunda

Erin BunnStirling Times

WESTS Scarborough put in a massive second half to take down Kalamunda 39-0 at the Bull Ring on Saturday afternoon to stay in touch with ladder leaders Palmyra.

The first half saw both teams unable to place points on the board thanks to an array of missed opportunities and poor execution.

But the Boars came out in the second half with renewed passion, managing to place five tries across the line and prevent the Bulls from scoring.

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“I think we did most things pretty well to be honest,” Wests Scarborough head coach Scott Batters said after the match.

“That first half was pretty physical so we just kept testing each other out.

“Then at half time we just said if we hang in there we would get a chance to score some points, we just needed to be patient and the points would come.”

Both teams came out of the gate with determination but were let down by ball handling errors and turnovers throughout the first half.

Kala started strong, fighting hard to penetrate a strong Wests defence in the first 10 minutes.

Handling errors, missed opportunities and strong defence were the story of the first half with both sides coughing up the ball in dangerous scoring positions thanks to quality pressure on the defensive end of the field.

Wests Scarborough returned to the field with a renewed determination with Preston Reilly causing a stir in the first five minutes, dodging Kala advances to score the first try of the match.

Walter Koteka failed to convert leaving the score 5-0 at the 45-minute mark.

Determined to keep the scoreboard ticking over, Wests were handed a penalty in a kickable position and Koteka struck true to push the margin to eight points.

Just minutes later, Koteka turned try scorer slicing through the defence to touch down.

The Bulls worked hard to wrestle back the momentum by taking the ball in the Wests’ 22 but the Boars defence stood strong to earn a number of penalties and turn the ball over.

Wests lock Alec Dravitski added Wests’ third major of the afternoon with the big man barrelling over after his team had been denied just minutes earlier.

Koteka converted to take the score to 20-0 at the 70th minute.

With 10 minutes to go, Wests Scarborough centre Brad Lacey managed to steal the ball with an intercept taking it across the line to score the Boars fourth to well and truly put the final nail in Kalamunda’s coffin.

Finishing with a bang, tries to front rowers Baxter King and Douglas Ferris in the final five minutes of the contest completed a 39-0 drubbing, keep Wests in touch with the ladder leaders and knocking Kalamunda out of the top four.

In other matches, Palmyra defeated Joondalup 34-17, Associates beat Perth Bayswater 33-0, Nedlands had a 51-17 win over UWA and Cottesloe defeated Wanneroo 38-19.

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