Griffith High School has found their way through to the third round of the University Shield following a win over Yanco Agricultural High School on Thursday.
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It was an at times fiery encounter with school pride running high as the Griffith school took out the game 28-16.
The first half was shortened after a Griffith High School player broke his ankle after landing awkwardly in a tackle and play was stopped for around 10 minutes while he was attended to and taken to hospital.
After the resumption, Griffith High returned to the field fired up to win the game for their injured teammate.
Quarase Lai was able to cross in the corner after Griffith High spread the ball which created gaps in the Yanco defence.
The home side doubled their lead shortly after with Ngarima Low crossing after holes were found in the defence once again.
Griffith then found themselves a player short heading into halftime with Apenisa Driti sin-binned for back chat. The side managed to hold the Ag out despite the numerical disadvantage until halftime to take an 8-0 lead.
Griffith High started from where they left off in the first half as they moved out to a 20 point lead thanks to tries from Nasshon Mataora and Ngarima Low who crossed for his second of the day.
The game was becoming more and more one-sided as the game wore on with Griffith moving on to score 28 unanswered points before the Ag were able to respond.
It was good lead up play from Yanco’s Will Barnes who made the difference for Yanco after he scored two quick tries to bring the score back to 28-10.
The Yanco side found themselves with an extra man again after Driti was sent from the field.
After the forward had already been warned for his behaviour, he gave the referee no other option after giving away two straight penalties for shoulder charges as the game threatened to boil over with both sides getting fired up.
The fightback was too little too late from Yanco as even with the numbers advantage they were unable to get back into the game however they were able to cross late to bring the score back to a 12 point gap.
Full Time
Griffith High School 28 (Ngarima Low 2, Ziggy Vincent, Apenisa Driti, Naashon Mataora tries; Issac Campbell 2, Iai Taupeamuhu goals) d Yanco Agricultural High School 16 (Will Barnes 2 tries; Jayden Pippin 2 goals)
Liam Warren
As someone with an underlying passion about sport it is a privilege to report on the sporting landscape around the MIA
As someone with an underlying passion about sport it is a privilege to report on the sporting landscape around the MIA
