The Nowra-Bomaderry Jets season will continue after winning the Group Seven elimination final against the Milton-Ulladulla Bulldogs at Bomaderry Sporting Complex on Saturday (August 26).
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
While they found themselves down early, a dynamite second-half performance on both sides of the ball propelled them to the 37-30 victory.
The Bulldogs came out of the gates with a purpose as they opened their checking accounts just eight minutes in through hooker Riley Wooden.
They soon followed up with their second via a rampaging PJ Thornton.
Five-eighth Cody Roach nailed his first two conversions to give the Dogs a 12-0 lead.
The Jets finally clicked into gear when a electric Beau Luland caught the Milton defence lacking, racing over to break the scoring drought.
However, the Dogs kept on rolling and it was a crafty play from halfback Sam Stewart that gave Milton an 18-6 lead after Roach's conversion.
The Jets scored just before the half via Parsons, but it appeared all the momentum sat with the Bulldogs heading into the half leading 18-10.
Whatever Jets' skipper Adam Quinlan said to his team at halftime woke them up as we witnessed a different side all together in the second 40.
From the first whistle, the energy, composure, and intent were entirely different.
A smothering brand of defense by Nowra immediately paid dividends, directly leading into a flightpath for which Quinlan took off from to cut the lead to four, five minutes into the period.
Parsons missed a gimme conversion, but the switch in momentum was palpable.
Soon it was Atunasia Matori forcefully breaking through, and with this try the match was officially ignited as the Jets began to run away with the game.
They would put three more tries on the board, along with a field goal by Parsons to extend their lead to 37-18.
The Bulldogs would try to fight back in the final minutes with captain Blake Mackey scoring a double in about a minute, but it was too little too late, as they saw their best season in nearly a decade come to an end.
However, the future looks very bright for the young pack of Bulldogs.
The Nowra-Bomaderry Jets will now turn their focus to a clash against the Stingrays of Shellharbour, who will be well rested after a week off as a result of claiming first-place on the ladder.
The Group Seven action isn't over this weekend either as the Shellharbour Sharks and Gerringong Lions will battle at Michael Cronin Oval tomorrow in the qualifying final.
That match will kick off at 3:30pm.
Our news app has had a makeover, making it faster and giving you access to even more great content.
Download The Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store and Google Play