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Rugby union: Wests Scarborough win by a point over Nedlands despite ill discipline

Kristie LimWestern Suburbs Weekly

Ill discipline threatened to derail Wests’ match, with the Boars shown four yellow cards and having to play the final 20 minutes with just 14 men.

Despite the ill discipline, forward pack dominance, tries to Jordan Luke and DJ Ferris, and the cool head of Walter Koteka were enough to get the Boars over the line.

Wests Scarborough coach Scott Batters said the win showed the determination of the group after some hard truths were spoken during the bye week.

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Nedlands started the contest in a flurry looking to have crossed the line in the opening two minutes, only to be held up.

After a number of reset scrums, Wests put on a massive shove to win a penalty against the feed and get out of danger early.

A yellow card to Nedlands backrower Krysten Lawrence handed Wests a golden opportunity to put points on the board.

But as tempers flared following a disallowed try, a further two yellow cards to Wests Scarborough’s Nick McLennan and Eru Wano Smith put the numbers back in Nedlands’ favour with 14 men to 13.

Nedlands made the most of the extra space with hooker Logan Ede picking up from the ruck and dancing his way out of two tackles before beating another two Wests defenders to charge in from 35m out.

Yet another yellow card to the Boars for a high tackle saw the hosts down to 12 men as Nedlands returned to their full complement.

With men in the sin bin, Wests were still able to control possession and keep Nedlands at bay before they welcomed their men back to put both sides back to 15 players apiece.

A fourth yellow card to Wests and second for Eru Smith Wano put the heat back on the hosts, forcing them down to 14 men for the remaining 19 minutes.

Cudd slotted the resulting penalty for Nedlands to close the gap to just two points, 12-10.

Koteka steadied the ship for the Boars keeping a cool head to knock through a penalty just one minute later to hand his side a five-point buffer, 15-10.

West continued to look for a killer blow, hammering the Nedlands line inside the 22 before the pressure got too much and the visitors were penalised for offside.

Koteka nailed the kick from directly in front to push the score out to 18-10 with five minutes remaining.

Needing to score twice for victory Nedlands went on the attack and a piece of individual brilliance from scrumhalf Cudd gave his side hope as he darted over the line and converted his own effort to close the gap to a single point with three minutes to play, 18-17.

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