Manly Upset Highlanders

Illawarra Mercury

Monday February 25, 2008

By TIM KEEBLE

GORDON were unable to repeat last year's Kiama Sevens success, copping a 41-7 thumping from Manly in the final at Kiama Showground.

After knocking out club-mates Gordon White in the semi-final, the Highlanders were confident of claiming back-to-back crowns at Saturday's annual 48-team carnival.

But Manly never let them into the game. They scored points at will and continually shut down Gordon's slick attack in a surprisingly lopsided victory.

Manly's Adam Gooding earned the Ron Hughes Trophy as the tournament's best player.

Randwick B took out the Plate final 29-17 over Queanbeyan A, while Woonona Shamrocks just fell short of winning their second straight Country Cup after losing 14-12 to Queanbeyan B in the final.

Shamrocks coach Brendan Schoupp - one of the club's stars in the '90s - was forced to pull on a jersey after a number of his players picked up injuries during the day.

Hosts Kiama advanced to the third round before succumbing to Randwick B and fellow Illawarra club Tech Waratahs performed well before running into eventual champions Manly.

Highlighting the event was a morning flyover by three Navy helicopters.

Keeping with tradition, the carnival also featured a couple of streakers toward the end of the day.

"It's always a great day and this year was no different," Kiama president Mark Bryant said.

"We sold out beer and we sold out food and everyone enjoyed themselves. The crowd was really well behaved and everything went smoothly and ran on time.

"Manly played tremendous rugby all day and really deserved to come away with the trophy."

© 2008 Illawarra Mercury

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