A tough weekend for the Sydney Roosters affiliate clubs saw the North Sydney Bears fall to the Newtown Jets after fighting their way back into the contest, while the Ipswich Jets went down to the Souths Logan Magpies in a high-scoring encounter.
The Glebe Dirty Reds had another week off, working on the details as they prepare to face the Kaiviti Silktails in Fiji on June 17.
North Sydney Bears
The Bears have dropped down the NSW Cup ladder after suffering a 36-20 defeat at the hands of the Newtown Jets at North Sydney Oval on Sunday afternoon.
A hat trick to winger William Fakatoumafi wasn’t enough to get North Sydney over the line, after they fought their way back into the contest. Coming back from an eight-point half time deficit, the Bears held a small advantage before conceding three tries in the final 12 minutes.
Both sides started fast, scoring an unconverted try each in the first seven minutes of the encounter.
Another try to the Bears and a successful conversion from Ben Stevanovic gave the hosts a six-point advantage after 15 minutes, but a strong finish to the half for the Jets saw them run in three tries to hold an 18-10 lead at the break.
North Sydney came racing out of the blocks in the second half, with Fakatoumafi completing his hat trick after just five minutes. A converted try from Alfred Smalley gave the Bears a two-point lead with 15 minutes left in the match.
But the Jets soared home, crossing the stripe three time in the dying minutes to record a 36-20 win.
Ipswich Jets
Ipswich continue the search for their first win of the season after suffering a 38-28 defeat in a spirited performance against the first-placed Souths Logan Magpies at Davies Park on Sunday afternoon.
After a difficult first half, the Jets managed to claw the contest back to a four-point game before the Magpies iced their win with a try at the end.
An early try to Jack Smith saw Souths Logan establish a lead, before Ipswich hit back 10 minutes later through Rhys Jacks.
The sides traded blows once again, with Jordan Pereira crossing for the Magpies before Gerome Burns scored for the Jets just four minutes later.
Souths Logan had a strong showing to close the first half, finding the stripe twice in the final five minutes, giving themselves a 20-12 advantage at the break.
The Magpies opened the scoring for the second half with a try to centre Jesse Arthars nine minutes in, before Burns secured his double in the minutes that followed.
Arthars crossed again for a double of his own, enabling his side to be in the box seat with a 32-18 lead.
But the Jets fought hard to remain in the contest, scoring fast back-to-back tries to bring the match back to 32-28 with 10 minutes left and plenty of momentum.
Unfortunately, they were unable to ice the impressive comeback and fell 38-28 after a late try to their opponents.
