The six semifinalists for the 2008 Tooheys New Shute Shield have been decided with results from Round 21 determining the teams which will do battle for this year’s title.

West Harbour’s victory over Penrith ended Eastwood and Manly’s outside chances of making the top six, while Gordon’s victory over Parramatta and Randwick’s loss to Sydney University ensures the Highlanders will join the Students with a week off to start the finals series.

Eastern Suburbs and Warringah are also assured of a playoff berth, however the final positions will be determined in next week’s final round.

SYDNEY UNIVERSITY V RANDWICK at University Oval No.1

Sydney University has ended Randwick’s top two aspirations with a 32-17 victory at University Oval No.1.

Daniel Halangahu set up two tries and scored one of his own on the way to a personal haul of 17 points, starring for the Students in their 19th victory of the season.

The Students took just two minutes to get on the board, when Halangahu held up a ball to put Ed Jenkins in under the posts. Halangahu converted for an early 7-0 lead.

On the back of a strong wind Uni continued to dominate field position, and it wasn’t long before Halangahu extended the lead with a penalty in the seventh minute.

Randwick then clicked into gear, however the renowned University defence stayed strong and the Students were able to clear themselves of danger. On the back of the strong defensive effort Uni received another penalty within kicking range in the 20th minute and Halangahu made it 13-0.

The Students went further ahead on 29 minutes when Halangahu set up Uni’s second try, this time judging a perfect cross-field kick in the tricky wind conditions for Nick Edwards who touched down.

Halangahu duly converted for a 20-0 lead with ten minutes remaining in the first half.

Randwick dominated the final period of the half, but University continued to defend strongly. However finally the Wicks hit the scoreboard when a quick short ball in the 38th minute put Matt Nethery through a gap, before offloading to Stephen Hoiles and Rodney Voullaire who touched down in centre-field.

Tim Walsh converted to reduce the margin to 13 and that is how the teams went to the break.

The Students started the second half like they did the first, and in the 43rd minute Halangahu continued racking up the points when he muscled over from close range, however failed in the attempt to convert his own try.

Uni threatened to run away with the match, however somehow Randwick managed to hold on and after their most creative sequence of the game Francis Fainifo scored in the right corner.

Walsh failed with the difficult conversion attempt leaving University with a 25-12 lead going into the final quarter of the match.

Randwick continued to apply the blowtorch but too often dropped crucial ball in attacking positions, and Uni capitalised with a great breakout try ten minutes from time with Edwards crossing for his second.

Halangahu’s conversion took the score to 32-12.

Randwick again attacked and Lotu Taukeiaho crossed for Randwick’s third try as the game entered the last five minutes, however again the conversion went wide sniffing out any chance of a last gasp victory.
Sydney University 32 (Nick Edwards 2, Ed Jenkins, Daniel Halangahu tries; Daniel Halangahu 3 cons, 2 pens) d Randwick 17 (Rodney Voullaire, Francis Fainfo, Lotu Taukeiaho tries; Tim Walsh con) at University Oval No.1. Half-time: Sydney University 20-7. Referee: Ian Smith.

EASTERN SUBURBS V NORTHERN SUBURBS at Woollahra Oval

Eastern Suburbs have leapt to third on the Tooheys New Shute Shield table and will fight for the position with Randwick next week after accounting for Northern Suburbs 41-24 at Woollahra Oval.

Clyde Rathbone scored a hat-trick for the Beasts while Luke Irwin also bagged a double.

After a hard-fought first half, defence took a back seat in the second stanza with 52 points scored.

The result means that Easts can now finish no worse than fourth going into the semifinals
Eastern Suburbs 41 (Clyde Rathbone 3, Luke Irwin 2, Saia Fainga’a, Pat Smith tries; Gavin Debartolo 3 cons) d Northern Suburbs 24 (Joey Lynch, Peter Kimlin, Julian Salvi tries; Chris Burnett 3 cons, pen) at Woollahra Oval. Half-time: Eastern Suburbs 10-3. Referee: Andrew Lees.

GORDON V PARRAMATTA at Chatswood Oval

Gordon has secured a week off to start the finals after a 43-29 victory over Parramatta at Chatswood Oval.

With Randwick going down to Sydney University, the Highlanders are now six points clear of Eastern Suburbs and will have a rest after their last round clash with Northern Suburbs.

Gordon won the match in the first half, streaking away to a 31-12 lead at the break. While the Highlanders were outpointed in the second half for the second week in a row, they had enough of a buffer to secure the bonus point victory.

Dave Harvey scored 18 points and Sisa Waqa nabbed a double for the Highlanders, while Tito Mua scored two of Parramatta’s five tries on the Two Blues’ way to a bonus point.
Gordon 43 (Sisa Waqa 2, Dave Harvey, Paulie Tuala, Kingsley Seale, Nath Nicol tries; Dave Harvey 5 cons, pen) d Parramatta 29 (Tito Mua 2, Paula Kaveinga, Dave Alo, Tom Woods tries; Tom Woods con, Simon Murphy con) at Chatswood Oval. Half-time: Gordon 31-12. Referee: James Leckie.

PENRITH V WEST HARBOUR at Nepean Rugby Park

West Harbour has secured a place in the 2008 Shute Shield finals series after scoring a 66-41 victory over Penrith in a try-fest at Nepean Rugby Park.

The Pirates scored ten tries to seven, with skipper Ben Martin scoring 19 points.

West Harbour set up victory in the first half, going into the break with a 42-17 lead. The Emus never gave up however, scoring 24-all with the Pirates in the second half in an entertaining 107-point match.

West Harbour 66 (Steve Massey 2, Sam Raymond 2, Campese Ma’afu, Ben Lonsdale, James King, John Sinisa, Ben Martin, Kuki Ma’afu tries; Ben Martin 7 cons, Steve Massey con) d Penrith 41 (Liam Winton, Luke Williams, Jeremy Su’a, Jono Rolfe, Michael Paulo, Patrick Mekuri, Henry Lilomaiava tries; Jeremy Su’a 3 cons) at Nepean Rugby Park. Half-time: West Harbour 42-17. Referee: Daniel Cheever.

EASTWOOD V MANLY at T.G. Millner Field

Eastwood scored a 48-35 bonus point victory over Manly at T.G. Millner Field, however with West Harbour defeating Penrith the Woods cannot qualify for the finals.

Eastwood muscled their way to a 13-7 lead in the first 40 minutes, however the floodgates opened after the break in a 63-point second half.

Josh Holmes continued his impressive tryscoring form with another double, while Ben Batger scored 23 points for the Woods.

Manly earned a bonus point from their five tries and will now finish in eighth position regardless of next week’s result against Warringah.
Eastwood 48 (Josh Holmes 2, Simon Daff, Ben Batger, John Grant, Seva Rokobaro tries; Ben Batger 6 cons, 2 pens) d Manly 35 (Lupini Siale, Dylan Sigg, Mark Fisher, Leon Bott, Adam D’Arcy tries; Adam D’Arcy 5 cons) at T.G. Millner Field. Half-time: Eastwood 13-7. Referee: Nathan Pearce.

WARRINGAH V SOUTHERN DISTRICTS at Pittwater Rugby Park

Warringah is still a chance of finishing in the top four after defeating Southern Districts 34-10 at Pittwater Rugby Park.

In-form second rower Scott Fardy scored a hat-trick for the Rats, while Michael Ruthven collected two tries.

The Rats scored 17 points in each half, and while the Rebels did well to contain Warringah in the early stages they were shut out in the second forty.
Warringah 34 (Scott Fardy 3, Michael Ruthven 2, Pat McCabe tries; Michael Ruthven con, Clint Eadie con) d Southern Districts 10 (Israel Stephens try; Michael Black con, pen) at Pittwater Rugby Park. Half-time: Warringah 17-10. Referee: James Scholtens.

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