Vikings View Rd 2

Wests Fall in Viking Raid

Andrew Johnston

Tuggeranong Vikings have secured their first win of the 2009 John I Dent Cup, brushing aside Western District Lions 64-24 at Jamison on Saturday.

In the rounds other results, Canberra Royals proved too strong for Uni-Norths 26-12 at Phillip and Gungahlin Eagles came away from Campese Field with a valuable away win, scraping home 12-11 against Queanbeyan Whites.

Vikings win was set up by a dominant first-half performance that saw them run in six tries, effectively sealing the result by half-time.

After going down to Royals last week, Vikings winger Jake Knight, who bagged a hat trick in another impressive display, put the improved result down to greater discipline.

"The difference today was that we followed our game plan, we really stuck to it and we just played our own style and got over the top", Knight said.

Vikings began the match in perfect fashion after Knight crossed for his first of the afternoon in just the second minute off the back of a length of the field break from James Tupai.

Vikings were clearly bolstered by the inclusion of Brumbies flanker Julian Salvi who featured prominently as his side ran in three more tries in the first 20 minutes to open up a 26-0 lead.

The home side got on the board through fullback Ben Tyler in the 25th minute but it was an otherwise flawless first half display from Vikings who crossed twice more to take a 38-5 lead into the break.

Wests looked in danger of capitulating completely early in the second half as two tries within five minutes, including Knight's third for the afternoon, saw Vikings hit 50 with over half an hour still to play.

But to their credit, the Lions refused to give the match away and in front of a vocal home crowd they began to work their way back into the contest.

Tylercontinued to put in a standout performance in a well-beaten side as he crossed for his second try on the way to a personal haul of 14 points.

Wests were rewarded for their persistence with a fourth-try bonus point in the dying minutes providing some consolation from a forgettable performance.

Vikings will be looking to continue their good form when they return to Viking Park to take on Easts in round three while Wests will meet Uni-Norths at ANU next week.

Vikings 1^st XV 64(J Knight 3, T Curran 2, Stubbs 2, C Wilkinson, C Faingaa, E Wessels; J Te Huia 6/9, Salvi 1/1 goals) def Wests 24(Tyler 2, Baigent; Tyler 2/4 goals)

Players Player - Julian Salvi

Vikings 2^nd XV 7(A.Goodall; E.Wessels 1G) Wests 28

Players Player - Scott Irwin

Vikings Colts 19(L.Cargill 2, M.Davies; J.Stephenson 2G) Wests 22

Players Player - Timi Tapara

Vikings 3^rd XV 21(A.Dickson 2, S.French; A.Steele 3G) Wests 17

Players Player - Andrew Steele

Vikings 4^th XV 10(U.Vaana; L.Kessey 1G 1PG) Wests 26

Players Player - Nate Illichmann

Vikings 1^st Div "Brown Snakes" 43(C.Green, R.Sands, J.Knight, J Sayle, H Ngo, T Baldry; J Sayle 4G) Yass 15

Players Player - Huy Ngo