WESTERN FORCE MEDIA RELEASE

Sunday, 16 August 2015

BOARS WIN THRILLER TO MAKE GRAND FINAL

Pindan Premier Grade – Semi Final

Wests Scarborough 25 defeated Kalamunda 22 at Bennett Park, Doubleview

By Fraser Smith

A last minute penalty from flyhalf AJ Alatimu has seen Wests Scarborough claim a thrilling 25-22 semi-final win over Kalamunda at Bennett Park today, and secure the right to take on Nedlands in the Pindan Premier Grade grand final next weekend.

Kalamunda shot out of the blocks scoring two tries in the opening 10 minutes to lead 12-10 at halftime, however, the Boars bounced back strongly after half time with Alatimu slotting five second half penalties to lead his side to victory.

Wests Scarborough head coach Dwayne Grace said he was proud of his side’s ability to fight it out against a strong Kalamunda outfit.

“I’m really proud of the boys’ effort,” he said. “We set goals and stuck to them which really helped us get the result.

“Full credit to ‘Kala’, they came out and scored two early tries that put us on the back foot. They are a really well organised and physical team and they came out and gave it to us.

“Trailing by a couple points at half time we knew that if we just held our ball we would be able to score some points and that’s what happened.

Grace said his team’s leaders were pivotal in getting the Boars over the line and into the grand final.

“AJ’s [Alatimu] been great with his point scoring all year and we knew he could get us over the line if we needed it and Pierre [Roberts] is our captain and as always he lead by example and did everything right.”

“Neddies next weekend will be a big task, we haven’t been in the grand final for a while so at the moment we are really enjoying this win and excited for the challenge ahead.”

The Bulls came out rampaging, opening the scoring within the first two minutes through their inspirational skipper Russell Burgess, who dove over the line following a line break and offload from winger Natu Apineru. Daley Harper converted to give the visitors an early 7-0 lead.

After sustained pressure in the Wests Scarborough 22m, the Bulls quickly added their second five-pointer of the afternoon as Apineru darted through a gap down the blindside to score in the corner to extend the lead to 12-points.

With the home crowd on edge Wests responded, moving the ball quickly following a five-metre scrum to find Jordan Luke who stepped inside and split two ‘Kala’ defenders to charge in under the posts and open the scoring for the home side. Alatimu converted to close the gap to 12-7.

Alatimu knocked over a penalty in the shadows of half time to have the home side within striking distance at the break, trailing 12-10.

The Boars picked up where they left off after the interval, as Alatimu slotted his second penalty to put Wests ahead 13-12.

Harper answered back minutes later with a penalty of his own to regain the lead 15-13.

Back-to-back penalties for the Boars saw them take their largest lead of the contest, 19-15.

Sensing the momentum slipping away Kalamunda swung the ball wide following a five-metre scrum to find Douglas Coradine, who exploited an overlap and dove over in the corner, handing the Bulls a one-point lead. Harper converted to extend the lead to 22-19 with 10 minutes to play.

Determined to fight to the end, Wests charged deep into the visitors’ half and applied huge pressure resulting in Kalamunda’s Beau King being shown a yellow card. Alatimu slotted the resulting penalty to lock the scores at 22-22.

In a monumental play, Wests Scarborough skipper, Pierre Roberts, made a huge tackle before jumping straight to his feet and attacking the ball to earn a penalty and a shot at victory with just a minute left to play. Alutimu kept a cool head knocking it over to claim a memorable 25-22 victory and a place in next weekend’s decider.

Wests Scarborough 25 (Jordan Luke try; AJ Alatimu conversion, 6 penalties) defeated Kalamunda 22 (Russell Burgess, Natu Apineru, Douglas Coradine tries; Daley Harper 2 conversions, penalty)