The Queanbeyan Blues displayed a dominant performance in their 50-10 win over the Goulburn City Bulldogs on Sunday at Workers Arena.
Fullback Matthew Parsons starred for the Blues scoring four tries in the afternoon to take his season tally to an impressive 20 tries.
Each side fought their way through the middle in the opening minutes of the match to complete their sets and maintain possession in the tough muddy conditions.
It was Goulburn who were awarded the first penalty of the match just eight minutes in, when halfback Joe Roberts was lifted over the horizontal in a dangerous tackle.
Goulburn were unable to take advantage of the field position, losing the ball in the first tackle, but their efforts prevailed, and they were able to drive a Blues player over the sideline to regain the ball.
Goulburn was awarded another penalty just moments later as they defended their try line, after contact was made on winger Steven Cummins who leapt in the air to take the ball, Goulburn used the momentum to drive the ball downfield and received a forced dropout.
Taking advantage of the repeat set Goulburn halfback Joe Roberts threw a cut-out ball to his left winger Steve Cummins who opened the scoring in a tremendous try to grab a 4-0 lead in the 16th minute. A successful sideline conversion by Isaac Walker saw Goulburn secure a 6-0 lead.
Goulburn looked strong in defence, keeping the Blues out from the try line after conceding a penalty just metres out, but it was on the fifth tackle, the Blues found the line.
Blake Murray stepped around the Goulburn defence finding space where he ran through and scored the Blues first try of the match in the 21st minute of play. A successful conversion from Terry Campese saw the Blues equal the score 6-all.
An unlucky offside call against Goulburn saw the Blues gain another set of attack on the line. It was a long ball from Terry Campese to his right winger George Morseu who was able to step around his opposite number to get the Blues in front 10-6.
Off the next set the Blues were able to make their way down field, this time it was top try scorer Matthew Parsons who saw a hole behind the ruck from dummy half, he was able to go through and score between the posts to make it 16-6 to the Blues.
The Blues backed up once again in the 35th minute when Michael Asomua broke through the line to find Parsons in the middle for his second try of the afternoon, Campese converted to make it 22-6.
The Blues scored four unanswered tries as they headed into half time.
It took just 40 seconds into the second half for the Blues to gain another six points. A strong carry by Josh Baker saw him team up with halfback Blake Murray who found support in Parsons to score his third try of the match extending their lead to 28-6.
Goulburn fullback Dominic Stevens continued to keep the Bulldogs in the game at the back as he endured immense pressure from the Blues kickers but continued to impress as his side was down.
But it wasn’t enough to keep the Blues away from the try line, with another offload from the Blues in the middle of the field finding Parsons who went through to score his fourth try of the afternoon making it 32-6.
Goulburn finally hit back on the score board with a stunning intercept try by Steve Cummins in the 53rd minute to close the gap 10-32.
As Goulburn looked to score another, they were unable to put the ball down in goal and it was lost over the line handing the Blues a 20-metre restart.
The Blues received a repeat set as they attacked the line and using their width, they were able to spread the ball wide finding left centre Michael Asomua who crashed over, making it 38-10 after a successful conversion by Campese.
Goulburn stayed determine with scattering defence stopping the Blues as they attempted to crash through the middle of the park and were eventually able to force a penalty in their favour.
A crash play saw Blues dive over once again, and another successful conversion made it 44-10 as they increased the gap with 10 minutes remaining.
Blues second rower Josh Baker secured the game with just four minutes remaining as he stepped off his left foot to get around the defence to get another four points.
The Blues hit the half century mark after player-coach Campese kicked another conversion making it 50-10 to secure the match and take home another two points.
