A late surge from the New Zealand Warriors was not enough to overcome a determined North Sydney Bears outfit, who booked their ticket to the 2023 NSW Cup Grand Final with a thrilling 28-24 victory in the Preliminary Final at Leichhardt Oval on Saturday afternoon.
The Bears laid down an early marker with a scintillating try to five-eighth Jesse Marschke, who latched on to a short ball from Zach Docker-Clay and showed blistering speed to beat two defenders and score in the corner after just seven minutes.
Continuing to pressure the Warriors defence, the Bears scored again in the 24th minute when centre Toa Mata’afa showed immense strength to slice through his opponents and reach the line to put his side up by 12.
NSW Cup Highlights: Bears vs Warriors
North Sydney’s dominance continued seven minutes before the break as Ben Talty barged over from cross range to score next to the posts, handing the Bears a healthy 18-0 lead heading into halftime.
An inspiring solo try from Warriors fullback Setu Tu just three minutes after half-time sparked the New Zealand side into life, clawing them right back into the contest and cutting the deficit to 12.
Six minutes later, Warriors captain Kalani Going found himself amongst the scorers when he burrowed over the line from dummy half to narrow the margin to single digits and put his side within a converted try.
Their momentum was stifled in the 56th minute however, when Jesse Marschke put on a clever left foot step to find an inch of space and scurry over next to the posts, scoring his second and restoring the Bears’ 12-point advantage.
Four minutes later North Sydney were in again through winger Allan Fitzgibbon, who having been denied by the touchline in the first half, redeemed himself with an acrobatic effort to make the scoreline 28-12.
A strong effort close to the line by Warriors prop Bunty Afoa with nine minutes remaining gave the Warriors a glimmer of hope as the deficit was closed to 10.
With three minutes to play, New Zealand centre Ali Leiataua found space on the right edge to score and set up a grandstand finish as the margin became four, but the Bears managed to hold on as the siren sounded, confirming their spot in the 2023 NSW Cup Grand Final with a 28-24 victory.
The Bears will face the South Sydney Rabbitohs next Sunday afternoon at CommBank Stadium in the Grand Final as they look to lift the trophy for the first time in North Sydney history.
