Southern Districts v Randwick at Forshaw Rugby Park

Southern Districts have returned to the winners list with a try ten minutes from full-time securing a 27-23 victory over Randwick at Forshaw Rugby Park.

The Rebels had lost four of their last five including a last start defeat at the hands of Penrith, but proved too strong down the stretch this afternoon.

Randwick scored what will likely be the fastest try of the season less than 15 seconds into the game when a clearing kick was charged down by Dave Parsons who chased and dived on the ball to score.

Nathan Sievert missed a penalty attempt straight after the restart, and Danny Kroll opened up a ten point advantage after as many minutes with a three-pointer of his own.

Souths slowly worked their way back into the game, and a good exchange of passing from Ben Schrieber, Ita Vaea and Matt Trouville put Radike Samo on a path for the Rebels’ first try.

Five minutes later Kane Douglas pick-and-drove through a poor attempt at tackle from Parsons before offloading to Sean Doyle who put the Rebels in front for the first time. Sievert’s conversion took the score to 14-10.

Shortly after Mark Chisholm went through a tackle equally as feeble as the one Douglas strode through however there were no defenders in front of the Brumbies lock who crossed untouched.

Kroll converted and followed up with a penalty to take the lead out to six, before a Sievert penalty left the half-time score at 20-17 to the visitors.

A penalty apiece saw Randwick leading 23-20 going into the final quarter of the match, with Souths’ defence proving impenetrable.

That defensive pressure eventually resulted in the decisive score of the game when replacement flanker Hamish Patterson stripped the ball from a Randwick runner before passing to Sisa Waqa who scored under the posts. Sievert’s conversion took the margin to four point going into the final ten minutes.

Randwick had good possession and territory in the closing stages, however the Rebels were equal to the task and kept the visitors at bay.

The result moves Souths into second place, however Eastwood still has a game in hand tomorrow against Gordon.

Southern Districts 27 (Radike Samo, Sean Doyle, Sisa Waqa tries; Nathan Sievert 3 cons, 2 pens) d Randwick 23 (Dave Parsons, Mark Chisholm tries; Danny Kroll 3 pens, 2 cons) at Forshaw Rugby Park. HT: Randwick 20-17. Referee: Ian Smith