ASSOCIATES beat UWA 26-20 and Nedlands defeated Cottesloe 37-20 while Palmyra retained the RugbyWA Cup after a bruising 46-26 victory over Kalamunda in round 5 of Premier Grade on Saturday.
Both teams were hungry for the cup with a terrific second half fight back from Kala keeping the scores tight before Pally pulled away in the closing stages.
Kiti Nairube scored early for the away side with an intercept from Hamish Buick allowing the number 14 to cross after just one minute of play, however the next phase was dominated by Pally.
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READ NOWDavid Neilson made an early penalty count before Tuhoe Mahaki was sent off and Palmyra took full toll piling on the points in the process.
Patrick Moss barged over after terrific play from a lineout; with Neilson claiming the conversion to take a 10-7 lead.
A terrific solo effort followed from Chris Miller with an intercept resulting in a runaway try, dashing from inside his opposition 25 to cross over.
Pressure began to hurt the Kala outfit with Panashe Kamhara crossing over from close range to further stretch the home side’s lead, at the break the side went up 24-7.
Mees Erasmus came out on a mission after the break, firstly breaking through the line to take the ball right to the line before dishing off to Kamhara for his second consecutive try.
Erasmus then took matters into his own hands taking on the Kalamunda defence, hammering his way through four defenders before crossing over to extend his sides lead to 34-7.
Manihera Eden was sent off for Pally in a cruel blow with the visitors taking advantage scoring two tries in 10 minutes.
Kiti Nairube made it two tries for the day getting over the line after some quick play off a lineout, keeping Kalamunda in it at 34-19.
Tutere Waenga crossed late in the fixture to secure the points for Palmyra, with their constant pressure at the breakdown too much for the Kalamunda pack.
Pally eventually ran out 46-26 victors maintaining their unbeaten start to the season.
In other games, Joondalup defeated Perth Bayswater 49-26 and Wests Scarborough had a 30-14 win over Wanneroo.