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Wolves dig in at top

27 May, 2004 04:33 PM
WINDSOR cemented its spot in the top four of the Jim Beam Cup after a convincing win over Ourimbah at Rifle Range Road on Saturday night.

The Wolves are now equal third with Wentworthville as the competition nears its halfway mark, four points clear of fifth-placed Ryde-Eastwood.

They only trail The Sydney Bulls by three points and competition leaders The Entrance by four. Nine rounds have now been completed, with 13 more to play.

Coming off a big loss to the Bulls and a week's rest courtesy of the bye, Windsor looked to restart its season with a convincing display. And that's exactly what our boys produced, running in eight tries to one in the 42-4 rout of the Central Coast team.

Captain-coach Nathan Barnes said it was the Wolves' best performance of the year.

"It was a really impressive match," Barnes said.

"Every player put their hand up and did what they needed to do, and we played as a team.

"I think we learned a lot from our loss to the Bulls a fortnight ago, and we now have our combinations within the team working better."

Despite its lowly position on the competition ladder, Ourimbah came into the match looking for three straight wins and posed a genuine threat to the Wolves' victory hopes.

Hooker Brett Finn led the way for Windsor, creating havoc around the rucks with some penetrating runs from dummy-half.

The forwards' hard work launched regular attacking raids.

Lino Salafai and Eddy Man-uel proved simply too good for the lacklustre defence.

Manual and Mark Butler crossed for a brace of tries, while Safali, Wales Tutaia, Shen-elle Haumono and Ken Webb all scored four-pointers.

Tutaia filled in for the injured Craig Trindall as goalkicker, and landed five goals from eight attempts on the night.

Webb was one Wolves player to make a welcome return to form, with a 50-metre run to the tryline highlighting his match.

But it was Finn who was voted Players' Player. He also shared the Man of the Match Award with Tito Niumata.

Barnes said he was looking forward to Windsor's clash with The Entrance in round 11 as his side's best test of form.

"We had six of our top players out against the Bulls, so that loss wasn't really a fair example of where we're at as a team.

"Hopefully we can put our strongest team on the paddock for that match."

Windsor now has four consecutive matches at home - which it must capitalise on - before heading out on the road for the last nine rounds of the competition.

The Wolves host ninth-placed Newtown at South Windsor this Saturday at 6pm, before facing The Entrance, Ryde-Eastwood and Woy Woy in their remaining home games.

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