Different Day But A Replay
By DAVID ROWLANDS
NORTH SHORE TIMES - 31/3/2004

If the opposition’s jerseys had not been different, you would have sworn that North Sydney’s Premier League match on Saturday was merely a replay of the previous week’s.

On the same ground where they went down to Balmain 38-16 seven days earlier, the Bears were once again outplayed by Canberra, this time 42-26 at Leichhardt Oval.

Just as they did against the Tigers, Norths were punished unmercifully for their lack of application in the first half and found themselves down 26-nil at the break, after they had conceded four swift tries.

Repeatedly surrendering possession com ing off their own line on early tackles made life even harder than it was always going to be against the reigning premiers. Yet just when an embarrassment loomed, the red and blacks rallied to ‘win’ the second half for the second week in a row.

By controlling the football with greater care, the Bears showed that they definitely have the potential to make a decent fist of this year’s competition by racing in five tries, with Scott McLean and Tristan Ramsay combining nicely on the left side to under mine the Raiders’ resistance.

The respectable finish to their tango with the champions will serve Norths well, start ing with this Sunday’s grudge match against Manly at Brookvale Oval.

The Jersey Flegg side will, be seeking to heed the same lessons as the seniors after conceding three tries in a short but critical period before recovering and eventually running out of time to lose 16-10.
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