NY KNIGHTS 2009 AMNRL CHAMPIONS!

Knights go 2-0 defeating the Bulls 40-20

June 13, 2009


UPDATED: Match photos added to the gallery!



It was the "Taming of the Bulls" last night at the Castle as the New York Knights convincingly handed the perennial AMNRL Grand Finals Champions, the Aston Bulls their second defeat of the season by a score of 40-20. The Knights were led by scoring sensation and gameÕs man of the match, half back Luke Hume, who capped off the game adding another another 5 trys to his name. Hume, the leading try scorer in the league added to his try count from last week to put him at 10 for the season after playing only two games.

The Knights were on fire right from the opening kick off, making impressive hits on defense. The Knights defense in the middle of the field was seemingly impenetrable all first half; with the large Bulls forward pack being stopped right in their foot steps with crushing tackles from Captain Gareth Baxendale, Prop Ryan Coleman, Lock Kirk Miller, and Second Rowers, Xavier Lozinguez and John Keegan. Leading the Knights defensive efforts, which teams reluctantly refer to as "The Wall", was Stand -Off Chris Carey. "The Wall" was responsible for controlling the Bulls offensive attack and for creating many of the turnovers by the Bulls which the Knights were able to capitalize on seemingly each time they touched the ball.

The first 30 minutes of the game had the intensity and pace of a grand final match. The confident Knights could not be stopped offensively throughout the entire first half of play. Full back Dane Ayling was the first to score in the corner off a long 5th tackle cross kick by Luke Hume which Ayling touched down in the corner. Later Hume unleashed some brilliant individual efforts, running circles around the Bulls entire back line, crossing the line three times for the Knights that first half. Next to score was first time rugby league player and 6Õ5" second row Xavier Lozinguez. Lozinguez scored his first try as a Knight with a hard run breaking the Bulls defensive line, and carrying two defenders on his back as he scored underneath the post! Rounding out the scoring for the Knights the first half was Captain and Hooker Gareth Baxendale who demonstrated some excellent foot work on a good heads up play right on the Bulls try line just before the half.

The second half the Knights showed that they could not relax against the Bulls, making several handling errors on their first and second tackles with the balls which put the Bulls into scoring position deep in the Knights half of the field. Conrad Maraki, Blair Wards, and Captain Coach Marcus Vassilakopulos, put the Bulls back into the drivers seat, scoring three quick trys between them for the visitors. One of the improvements the Knights have made this off-season was to increase the depth of their bench. Showing that the Knights were a changed team from last year, the Knights bench led by Michael Bird, Sean Taylor, Col Manners helped stabilize the Bulls attack midway through the second half. Newcomer Ji-Hwan You a/k/a "Juice", stepped on the field for the first time in Knights uniform and showed the field why he will be one of the new and exciting prospects in the League this year at prop by gaining 15 yards on his first 3 hit ups. His efforts helped get the Knights going forward again on offense. This opened the door for Hume to show that he is one of the fastest players in the league, by single handedly out running everyone on the entire field (except for the touch judge),scoring the last of his 5 trys for the day with a 90 meter run to end the game.

"It was a great game for the team" said Assistant Coach Hayden James. "We spent a lot of time this past week working on several offensive and defensive sets that Guill and I put together for the game tonight. We are very happy that they were able to execute most of what we asked them to do." Head Coach Cieutat, in his typical manner, downplayed the individual efforts of the game and focused his attention on the team working together as a single unit. "We are slowly starting to understand what we can do if we work together" said Cieutat. " As the season progresses, all of the teams will start to play better so we need to make sure that the discipline that we able to show on the field tonight during parts of the game tonight, can be sustained throughout an entire 80 minute game!"

The Knights get ready for their first away game this week when they travel to Jacksonville to face the Axemen next week Saturday. The last time the Knights traveled to Jacksonville they were able to narrowly hold on to a lead to beat the Axemen in the last minute of the game. With the Axemen at the top of the ladder, the Knights will have their work cut out for them this weekend!

(trys Luke Hume 5, Dane Ayling, Xavier Lozinguez, Gareth Baxendale) (Hume, Meoli, Manners conversions)