Hawks best Magpies in Old Boys and Sponsors Day triumph Myall Coast Sport Property/Sports/Opinion - popup ad Sport by News Of The Area - Modern Media - August 6, 2024 John Schultz could not be stopped as he scored the Hawks’ second try. THE CROWD of sponsors and spectators were not disappointed when the Tea Gardens Hawks took on the Raymond Terrace Magpies at the ‘Back to the Nest’ Old Boys Day at Myall Park on Saturday 3 August. Many players themselves proclaimed it “good to be back” on home turf for the first time after a bye and several washouts. The match started characteristically fast and strong, with the Hawks amping up their defence by routinely lifting Magpies players off the ground and dragging them back a few metres before letting gravity take over. The first try was the Magpies’, before a renewed offensive by the Hawks kept the visitors in their own half for a prolonged period. A kick body-blocked by Tea Gardens player Seth Blisst kept the ball dangerously close, until Ben Woolard took it to the far-right corner for the first Hawks’ try. John Schultz gained the ball on the next run, and proved impossible to stop as he grounded it near the posts, setting up an easier conversion. Soon enough, James Sinclair received a solid pass to run the ball up his wing, practically unopposed as he swung in to plant it under the uprights for the Hawks’ third try. The second half started much like the first, with powerful tackling by the Hawks, and a strong team maul soon got Shaqueil Saunders over the line for a try that he could then convert. Minutes later, a strategic dropkick by Saunders caused a mid-air collision by both teams’ #2s. Ethan Tito then scooped it up and slid in for a try in his 51st seniors game. Raymond Terrace struggled under the Hawks onslaught, a position underscored by James Sinclair bringing it around from the wing mere minutes later for his second try. Saunders was dominant from dummy-half, dummying left, then right, then diving over the line to score again, and then converting with his sixth successful kick of the day. Raymond Terrace found their second wind, and then their tryline, in the far-right corner for a consolation try, but it was too wide for a clean conversion. In response, the ball was swiftly taken from one end of the field all the way down to the other by Luke Perry, who ran it up the right wing to score a try in his 51st game. The bone-chilling cold set in as the sun vanished, with a few try attempts stymied, and the game called minutes early due to injuries. The Hawks won 44-8. By Thomas O’KEEFE James Sinclair zoomed in from the wing for one of his two tries. Luke Perry, recently passing his 50th game, brought in the Hawks’ eighth and final try. Birds of a feather, Hawks and Magpies join as sportsmen in the end.
