Saints v Cronulla Round1(2000)

Round 1
Saturday 5 Feb
Saints v Cronulla
Stadium Australia
Homebush
Saints on TV 2000

Match Report

TV / Video Capture

Scrapbook

Referee Rating

SAINTS TEAM (ROUND 1) v CRONULLA Homebush, Sat Feb 5: Luke Patten; Nathan Blacklock, Jamie Ainscough, Shaun Timmins, Lee Murphy; Anthony Mundine, Trent Barrett; Wayne Bartrim, Lance Thompson, Darren Treacy, Craig Smith (C) , Nathan Brown (C) , Chris Leikvoll. Res:Corey Pearson, Luke Bailey, Andrew Hart, Jason Hooper, Lee Hookey, Matt Cooper.
Coach: David Waite, Andrew Farrar

FULLTIME SCORE: Saints 12 v Cronulla 28
Match Conditions: Temp. Hot 30 degrees C, Light breeze favoured Cronulla 1st half
Summary: Cronulla more disciplined and keener to play. Saints need to improve. Timing in attack left something to be desired and the defence was 2nd rate at critical moments.
Forwards suffered in hot conditions. 2nd half much slower.
Best for Saints: 3- Mundine, 2- Timmins, 1- Smith
Keep an eye on: Leikvoll, Bailey, Hooper

2nd minute	Trent Barrett busts up middle from halfway->Mundine->Brown who kicks into in-goal. Cronulla Fullback knocks it dead. Nathan Blacklock & Anthony Mundine were unmarked to Nathan Brown's right.
9th minute	Barrett kicks down blind side placing pressure on Cronulla's Fullback in goal. Lee Murphy unable to get there first.
11th minute	Wayne Bartrim from halfway sets up Luke Bailey->Patten and Saints bust up middle again. Pass attempt to unmarked Mundine (with no one to beat) is intercepted and play breaks down.
12th minute	Cronulla scores against the run of play. Try from cross field kick by Mitch Healey. Colin Best scores after beating Lee Murphy in the air. Matt Rogers' Conversion from side line is successful. Vid ref called. Score: 0-6
15th minute	Trent Barrett concussed. Jason Hooper comes on as replacement.
17th minute	Brilliant chip & chase from Mundine, 30 metres out, re-gathers, finds a side stepping Hooper in support. Hooper scores next to uprights. Conversion from Bartrim OK. Score: 6-6
23rd minute	A fleet footed Howland of Cronulla slides through some tired defence and scores after bouncing off post. Conversion successful. Score: 6-12
26th minute	Chris Leikvoll head injury. Saints penalised again for off-side and co-captain Nathan Brown questions ref. Penalty count: Cronulla 3, Saints 0
28th minute	Cronulla scores through Colin Best beating some disorganised defence. Rogers converts. Vid ref called. Score 6-18
30th minute	Completion Rate: Saints 7 from 11; Cronulla 15 from 17 Ordinary pass from Barrett at scrum base sees Ainscough driven back behind Saints try line. Tackle count: Saints 94; Cronulla 65
31st minute	McKenna scores for Cronulla. Conversion successful. Vid ref called. Score: 6-24
34th minute	Blacklock and Ainscough soccer through from inside their own half. Ball goes dead in Cronulla in-goal.
38th minute	Saints handling errors deep in Cronulla territory lead to Rogers kicking through for Cronulla and passing to Ettinghausen who scores out wide. Conversion attempt not successful. Vid ref called. Score: 6-28
HALF TIME	Possession: Saints 40% Cronulla 60% Completion: Saints 9/15 Cronulla 20/23 Tackles: Saints 121; Cronulla 85 Missed tackles: Saints 12; Cronulla 7 Handling errors: Saints 5; Cronulla 2
59th minute	Colin Best breaks down left flank. Ankle tapped by Barrett. Cronulla lose possession.
63rd minute	Time in possession: Saints 47% Cronulla 53%
69th minute	Cronulla's McKenna picks up loose ball and runs 40 metres. Chased down by Ainscough. A series of intercepts follow.
73rd minute	Mundine from 18 metres out puts Hooper through a gap who scores Saints' 2nd try. Conversion from Bartrim is good. Score: 12-28
77th minute	Timmins line break 30 metres out from Cronulla line. Unable to convert to points.

Stats:
Saints 12 (Hooper 2 tries, Bartrim 2 goals)
Cronulla 28 (Best 2, Howland, McKenna, Ettinghausen tries, Rogers 4 goals)

Sorry about the fuzzy pics. Crap antenna to be rectified before next weekend -
expect much better pics next week

Nathan Brown in the clear as Saints make the first inroads

Cronulla fullback Howland slips into touch, in-goal. Touch Judge rules that he can play on.

Try time as Mundine's chip & chase sets up Hooper

Big hits from Leikvoll and Blacklock send Cronulla back.

Barto almost through late in the match - caught by the jock strap.

Jason Hooper scores his second try after Mundine puts him through. Well played off the bench!

Shaun Timmins never stopped trying. Here he is making a break off a Hooper pass.
The dying moments of the match.

Matt Rogers being swamped by Wayne Bartrim & Trent Barrett as Lance Thompson looks on.
(from Sunday Mail, Qld)

REFEREE & TOUCH JUDGES have been the sacred cows of football commentary for as long as anyone can remember. RL fans constantly jeer these necessary evils of the game. Commentators on the other hand will witness many bad calls before uttering some forgettable statement. This may be for fear of prosecution or it could be that we are suppose to let life go on and quietly turn a blind eye to these refereeing blunders and baffling decisions. The adjudicators on the field have often been spot-on. However, there are times when they are lacking in competence and some are just too plain lazy to do their job properly. At worse, some have been corrupt and history shows this to be case in this unspoken area of the game. The tally of blatant errors is not meant to be a witch-hunt on any particular referee. Afterall, most are good people who try hard to improve their skills. But they should not be above critical analysis.
This is a list of errors which most people would have seen, either watching the game on TV or live at the match.

REFEREE: Tim Mander

When	Description	Team advantaged by Ref error
2nd minute	Forward pass by Saints' Blacklock ->Smith missed by ref	Saints
3rd minute	Forward pass by Saints' Barrett->Leikvoll missed by ref	Saints
9th minute	Cronulla's Howland puts foot into on touch line in-goal in full view of Touch Judge. No flag, no call. Howland runs for 20 metres.	Cronulla
11th minute	Cronulla player (#16) tackled 40 metres out from Cronulla line - arm carrying ball hits ground while held by Nathan Brown who then releases tackled player. Cronulla player continues to run as if 'not held' and ref allows play to proceed. Cronulla score Try in same set of 6 tackles.	Cronulla
16th minute	Nathan Brown rakes ball and ref rules that Cronulla player Nathan Long has knocked on. Saints score 1 min later.	Saints
26th minute	Cronulla player passes ball to ground while being tackled by Shaun Timmins. Timmins swoops on ball and appears to have plenty of room. Ref incorrectly rules that Timmins knocked ball on. Cronulla regain possession. Cronulla score following another ref error on minute later.	Cronulla
27th minute	Cronulla player knocks on. Ref rules that Ainscough touched ball and re-starts tackle count. Ainscough did not play at ball and contact with the ball is highly unlikely. Cronulla scored a few moments later.	Cronulla

Total Referee or Touch Judge errors = 7
Errors in favour of Saints = 3
Errors in favour of Cronulla = 4
Penalty Count: Cronulla 5; Saints 4
Comments: Tim Mander made crucial errors in the 1st half of the opening match of the year. Fortunately, these errors did not decide the winner. He had very little work to do in the 2nd half. Perhaps he will improved with more effort.
Overall rating: 5 out 10

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