Vikings View - Round 10 vs Easts
Under strength Vikings batter brave Easts into submission
Andrew Johnston
A severely depleted Tuggeranong Vikings overcame an equally injury ravaged Eastern Suburbs side 43-10 in a battle of attrition at Griffith Oval in Round 10 of the John I Dent Cup on Saturday.
The final score line did little justice to Easts who put in a spirited performance despite a horror first-half the saw the home side lose three players to injury.
The most serious incident saw play stopped for nearly 10 minutes as Easts winger Nate Lowers was stretchered off after falling awkwardly in a tackle with Vikings prop Michael Noble.
Lowers was soon joined in the casualty ward by hooker Reza Almasi and flanker Mauri Keiserie, both of whom had to be assisted from the field after separate incidents.
Easts however seemed determined to overcome both the mounting injury toll and its status as competition cellar dwellers and they held firm for much of the first-half against their more fancied opponents.
When the inspirational Jack Vanderglass crossed to cancel out Nathan Blacklock's early try it looked as though the sides would go into half-time separated by a single conversion.
Easts good work was largely undone however when the Vikings scored twice in the final minute of the half through Tim Curran and Beau Mokotupu to take an unlikely 15-point lead into the break.
Despite missing a number of key players including both first choice fly-halves Christian Lealiifano and Jeremy Te Huia, the going was easier for Tuggeranong in the second-half as the visitors clicked into gear.
Mokotupu continued his recent try scoring run after some good lead-up work from Michael Henry put the halfback into space to score his second of the afternoon.
Three more tries to Blacklock, Curran and Ed Stubbs saw the Vikings further extend its lead before Easts crossed for a consolation try in the final minutes.
After finishing last season as beaten grand finalists, Easts are yet to taste victory in 2009 while Tuggeranong remains locked in competition with Western Districts for third spot on the ladder after they disposed of Uni-Norths 57-19 at Jamison.
In the rounds other match, the Queanbeyan Whites ended Canberra Royals unbeaten run with a 37-34 victory at Phillip. The win means the Whites are well within striking distance of Royals at the top of the log with four rounds remaining.
Next week sees Tuggeranong return home to take on Uni-Norths at Viking park and Easts face off against Wests at Jamison.
Vikings 1st XV 43 (B Mokotupu 2, N Blacklock 2, T Curran 2, E Stubbs; B Taueki 3/5 Conv, E Wessels 1/2 Conv) def Eastern Suburbs 10 at Griffith Oval on Saturday.
PLAYERS PLAYER - BEAU MOKOTUPU
Vikings 2nd XV 38 ( P.Henry, L. Culnane, T. Taula, A. Goodall 2, T. Blencowe; E. Wessels 4G) Easts 12
PLAYERS PLAYER - TIMI TAPARA
Vikings 3rd XV 48 (I. Vainikolo 3, G. Lukins, JD Stephenson, A. Dickson 2, J. Gibson; A.Dickson 3G, J. Gibson 2G) Easts 0
PLAYERS PLAYER - DEAN COTTERILL
Vikings 4th XV 26 (Y. Toshida, R. Ruporo, L. Kessey, S. French; Leon Kessey 3G) Easts 26
PLAYERS PLAYER - SCOTT COOK
Vikings Brown Snakes 15 (H.Hayes, J.Knight, H. Ngo) Hall 38
PLAYERS PLAYER - JORDAN KNIGHT
ViQueens 81 (P. Butt 2, A. Singh, C. Hill, N. Ayers 5, S. Milward 2, K. Apineru, D. Keed; N. Ayers 9G) ADFA 7
PLAYERS PLAYER - PIP BUTT
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TEAM PHOTO'S
A reminder to all players, coaches, managers and support staff; that the team photos will be held Tuesday 11th of August at Viking Park starting at 6pm. Players are instructed to make sure they bring their socks and shorts and a warm smile.
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PRESENTATION NIGHT
Presentation Night this year is going to be held on Friday the 18th of September, in the Auditorium at the Vikings Erindale Club. It will be a 6.30pm for 7.00pm start. Dress will be Lounge Suit for the men and Cocktail for the ladies. More info on costing shortly so please start organising yourself into tables.
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BEYOND BLUE JERSEYS
This weekend against Uni-Norths the Vikings 1st XV will be wearing a special Beyond Blue Jersey that will auctioned off during the day via a silent auction.
The club plans to raise as much money as possible for the cause which is in aid of Teenage Drepression.
Throughout the day there will be charity bins for you to make donations towards as well as blue wrist bands.
We hope to see as many of you as possible down at Viking Park on Saturday to help raise money for this cause.
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Vikings 2009 Leading Try Scorers
As the regular season is drawing to a near, there are some great contenders from all grades going for this great honor. Heath Hayes, playing for the Brown Snakes is the quiet achiever and could feature heavily in the coming weeks or will it be the two Andrews battling it out, Andrew Dickson or Andrew Goodall going for the honors.
7 - Ed Stubbs
7 - Grant Lukins
7 - Nikki Ayers
7 - Tim Curran
8 - Jake Knight
10 - Andrew Goodall
11 - Andrew Dickson
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CONGRATULATIONS
a Big CONGRATULATIONS to Nikki Ayers from the ViQueens who has scored a Club Point Scoring Record on the weekend against ADFA.
Nikki crossed for 5 Tries and kicked 9 Goals for a combined total of 43 Points!!
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