By PETER ROWE
WA suffered last minute heartbreak in Melbourne on Sunday afternoon with a missed penalty denying them a draw and handing Victoria a 12-10 victory at the CAS Championships.
With barely 40 seconds on the clock Jaylen Grey’s kick skewed right of the posts in windy conditions. Had it gone over WA would have levelled and won the tournament on points differential.
But football sometimes can be cruel and the Black and Golds, after two straight victories over SA and NT, couldn’t find their rhythm in this showdown with the defending champions.
Both sides looked edgy and nervous early with errors aplenty before Victoria opened the scoring after five minutes.
It took WA another 12 minutes to find the whitewash as fullback Bailey Millar took a short pass from hooker Taurean Sheehan to cross.
Grey’s kick gave them a two-point lead but it didn’t last long. From the kickoff Victoria recovered the ball and were quickly back win from t after winger Travis Haney was beaten to a high ball on the left edge.
Penalties and errors from both sides saw no further scoring in the first half, but WA had a series of chances after Victoria’s Junior Seamanu was sin-binned for hit on backrower Tom Murphy, chances they failed to capitalise on, despite five consecutive penalties in their favour.
Against the run of play, the home side then marched up the field and scored themselves through centre Garry Addi.
It was a bitter blow for WA after having plenty of ball, but they recovered and with eight minutes left centre Ryan Woolley was on the end of sweeping play to go over in the corner.
Grey’s kick was unsuccessful and when player-coach Delane Edwards was on the receiving end of a late hit when kicking, as the clocked ticked down, it was left to Grey to slot the penalty.
Sadly, it was not to be and Victoria retained the CAS championship.
It wasn’t all bad news from Victoria as the Women’s League Tag team were crowned CAS champions after their classy run at the tournament.
The ladies had beaten Vic Country 26-4 and drawn with Vic City 10-10 but then had to wait for the result of the Country v City game, hoping City didn’t score more than 39 points.
They didn’t and WA were crowned Combined Affiliated States & Territories Champions for 2024.
Earlier in the day WA Under-17s had an error-riddled game as they went down 18-0 to Victoria, and unfortunately were consigned to another second place finsh.
