Mazzarol-Kotz scores 4 tries in Eagles victory over Whites
After a shaky first half, the Eagles came out in dominant fashion scoring 47 second-half points to beat the Whites 61-29 at Campese Field in Queanbeyan.
The win moves the Eagles one point shy of the Vikings and Owls for 2nd place in the John I Dent Cup. Back-to-back performances of scoring over 50 points mean the Eagles have the best plus/minus in the competition with 57.
A series of errors within their own 22 in the first half, allowed Queanbeyan to take the front from the outset.
Tamati Ioane and Solomone Kata combined to get the Eagles going when Kata crossed under the uprights off a scrum.
In a new jersey with #13 on the back, Corey Toole weaved his magic. With searing pace, he ran through untouched off the back of a dominant Eagles scrum before putting on an ankle-breaking step and scoring under the posts.
This try helped keep the Eagles within striking distance of the Whites. In fact, gave them the lead 14-10 after Caputo converted. A late Queanbeyan try saw the half time score to read 17-14 in favour of Queanbeyan.
The second half was all Eagles. Dominating the entire last 40 minutes, led by club favourite, Jamie Mazzarol-Kotz who managed four second-half tries.
The Eagles kept putting pressure on the Queanbeyan defence with dominant work at the scrum and lineout, followed by some magic from the star-studded backline.
Mazzarol-Kotz’s first came from an excellent lineout from the Eagles, where Fines found Kata, who found a gap in the Whites defence for a huge line break. He drew the defence in perfectly, then threw a pass to Toole who offloaded to Mazzarol-Kotz on the Whites line for a try. The try gave the Eagles a 33-17 lead as Caputo missed a tough conversion. However, the tries kept coming, and not just for Mazzarol-Kotz.
Kala muscled his way over for another Eagles try. This time Caputo made no mistake on goal and the Eagles led 40-17, with over 20 minutes still to go in the match.
Another Queanbeyan try, halted the Eagles unanswered run of points but this was short-lived as an error from Queanbeyan which allowed Fines to chip the ball forward, where the bounce favoured Mazzarol-Kotz, who was in a great position to score.
It wasn’t long until Mazzarol-Kotz scored again, probably his best try of the lot as he intercepted a Queanbeyan pass on our defensive 22m line. The moment he caught it everyone knew that no was catching him as he went over, under the posts to add to the mammoth Eagles tally. Caputo converted to give the Eagles a 30-point advantage.
On the stroke of full-time, Mazzarol-Kotz put the icing on the cake off a series of great Eagles passing. Mazzarol-Kotz span around a Whites defender and forced himself over the line for his fourth. A Caputo conversion gave the Eagles a massive 61-29 win and edges them closer to the top 2.
This Saturday we take on the Owls at ANU North Oval which is a massive game. The match starts at 3:05pm so make sure you come and support our boys as they look to put on another scoring clinic and cement their place in the Top 3.
Written by Joshua Dunstall
Photos by Jayzie Photography