Sport
27 April, 2023
Hat-trick hero in Wolves’ landslide win
LANCE Ainsworth snared three tries as he helped the Stanley River Wolves trounce the Caboolture Snakes 40-6 in rugby league reserve grade action at Yowie Park, Kilcoy last Saturday
Playing at hooker, Lance Ainsworth put in a strong showing while his brother Tony played an instrumental role at halfback.
Second-rower Daniel Brooks and prop Jaye Allery also put in strong displays for the victors, while veteran Sam ‘Carrot’ Armitage had some good touches. The interchange players, meanwhile, injected some energy into the game.
Chasing their third win from as many games, the Wolves rarely looked troubled although they were rusty at times against an outfit yet to win this year.
Brooks scored the opening try, before Lance Ainsworth scored next with a clever run from dummy-half.
A couple of handling errors cost the Wolves the chance to score a couple more tries, before a fumble from a kick enabled Caboolture to go on the attack. Jyrome Topai-Aveai scored a converted try, although a penalty could have been awarded for an apparent double movement.
An ensuing error from Caboolture enabled Stanley River to hit back quickly, with the Ainsworth brothers combining to send Armitage in for a try.
A break from Nathan ‘Mambut’ Saliamungo set up Lance Ainsworth’s second try, which stretched the margin to 18 points at half-time.
Both teams committed multiple errors in the opening stages of the second half, with Caboolture twice failing to land a penalty kick over the sideline. The Snakes counterattacked from a Wolves error, with Brooks making a brilliant trysaving tackle which produced a knock-on.
Armitage set up the next try with a clever flick pass to Steve Torrens, who later notched back-to-back tries when he broke clear and evaded the last line of defence.
Lance Ainsworth scored the final try after a raid was followed by a loose pass, which could have been ruled forward but was let go.
The Snakes applied pressure in the dying stages but Stanley River’s defence held firm.
Wolves co-coach Ethan Szendrey said conceding six points pleased him more than scoring 40.
“We defended for four-and-a-half minutes straight to finish the game, (and) it showed where the boys’ mentality was at,” he said.
Szendrey said the Wolves were “still building”, and he emphasised the need to “stick to our structures” while there were occasions when a pass didn’t stick.
“I’m big on earning the right to play good football, not take the easy way out,” he said.
Szendrey said it was too early to think about finals football, while he could see there was still a lot of improvement left for the team.
“We’re not at our best yet, which is a good thing,” he said.
“You don’t want to be at your best this early in the year.”
