In a weekend that drew mixed results from the Roosters affiliate clubs, the North Sydney Bears notched up 40 points to secure victory and the Dirty Reds fought until the final whistle to win.
The Ipswich Jets fell just short of a win against Norths Devils, while first-placed St Marys were too strong for the Kaiviti Silktails.
North Sydney Bears
The North Sydney Bears recorded their largest victory of the 2023 NSW Cup season on Sunday afternoon, thumping the Parramatta Eels 40-4 at North Sydney Oval in Round 22.
It took them 15 minutes to start ticking the scoreboard over, but they eventually found the stripe through front rower Regan Hughes.
Shifting the ball out wide, they crossed for two more tries through wingers Fetalaiga Pauga and Tuipulotu Katoa to make it 16-0.
Parramatta clawed back four points before half time with their only try of the game coming through Turoa Williams.
The Bears got straight to work in the second half with Pauga crossing for his second in the 43rd minute.
Coming off the bench, Ben Marshke got amongst the action to score his side’s fifth try of the evening with half an hour still left to play.
The forwards got involved with the try-scoring as back rower Elie El-Zakhem and lock forward Zach Dockar-Clay crossed the stripe to close out a convincing 40-4 triumph.
Ipswich Jets
The Ipswich Jets fell painfully close to claiming their first victory of their 2023 Queensland Cup campaign, going down 41-34 to the defending Premiers Norths Devils on Saturday afternoon at North Ipswich Reserve in Round 19.
It was a rocky opening for the Jets, as the Devils established a 12-point lead in the first 11 minutes with tries to Sam Elliott and Tony Tumusa.
Ipswich quickly halved the deficit with a try to centre Denzel Burns, but the visitors crossed for back-to-back tries once more to establish a 22-6 advantage after half an hour.
The sides traded blows before heading into the sheds, with Manase Kaho securing a double for Norths and Mosese Qionimacawa scoring for the home side as the Devils held a 29-12 lead at half time thanks to a Bryce Donovan field goal.
The Jets flew out of the sheds for the second half, scoring three tries through Jayden Corrigan, Manaia Cherrington and Dray Ngatuere-Wroe to put them within just one point of their opposition.
Unfortunately, Norths responded to the try-scoring barrage with two of their own, giving them a 39-28 lead with 13 minutes to play.
Not going down without a fight, Jets winger Ricco Falaniko crossed for a late try, but the Norths Devils iced the game off with a penalty goal to secure a 41-34 victory.
Glebe Dirty Reds
The Glebe Dirty Reds came out on top in an intense 18-14 win over Mounties at Wentworth Park on Sunday afternoon in Round 18 of the Ron Massey Cup.
Exchanging early tries with George Sukanaivalu scoring for Glebe and John Olive for Mounties, the game was set to be a tight encounter.
Lopeti Mafi crossed to give the Dirty Reds a lead before David Soakai scored to swing the game back in favour of Mounties 12-10.
The visitors added two points to their advantage shortly after with a successful penalty goal from Joel Hughes.
Two late tries to the Dirty Reds from Michael Pearsall and Mason McCarthy put the home side in front, securing an 18-14 win.
Kaiviti Silktails
The Kaiviti Silktails suffered an unfortunate loss against St Marys in Round 18 of the Ron Massey Cup, being downed 50-18 at St Marys Leagues Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
It was a promising start from the Silktails as they opened the scoring through Tsuyoshi Jennings, but the home side hit back quickly with a try to Todd Sapienza.
With possession shifting back and forth, both sides crossed once more, with Timoci Bola scoring for Kaiviti and Anthony Layoun responding for St Marys.
Silktails five-eighth Ponipate Komai scored to give his side the lead, with another try coming shortly after for the visitors to extend their advantage.
Unfortunately, St Marys managed to chase down that lead with tries to Jake Tago and Samuel McGregor putting them ahead.
Second rower John Faiumu and centre Tony Satini found the stripe as well, before Tago crossed twice more to notch up a hat-trick.
The home side closed out a strong 50-18 victory with a try from Anton Iaria.
