Entrance stay alive but win marred by send off for alleged king hit

The Entrance remain alive in the Newcastle Rugby League premiership race but the Tigers are unlikely to have second-rower Jack Wilkinson-Alapate. Login or signup to continue reading The edge forward was sent off for striking late in Tigers' 16-6 win over Cessnock in the elimination semi-final at the Entrance on Sunday. BarTv footage showed Alipate run 15 metres to join a melee and then allegedly punched Cessnock's Ben Roose in the side of the head.

Rose was sent to the sinbin for his part in the fracas but then had the penalty upgraded to a send off after an exchange with referee Joe Butler. The Entrance will now tackle South Newcastle in the minor semi-final next Sunday. The Lions went down 26-10 to Central Newcastle in the qualifying semi-final.



The Tigers will get former NRL star Blake Austin back from a leg injury for the must-win clash. Entrance led 4-0 after a dour opening 40 minutes riddled by mistakes. The points came through two penalties to halfback Nic Newman in the 25 th minute and 38 th minute.

Dynamic hooker Luke Huth returned after a month out for Cessnock, but the Goannas attack struggled to click in the opening 40 minutes. They defended for large periods of the half. When they got possession in the Tigers' 22m, they made mistakes.

The spiteful clash opened up after the break. Cessnock's back-up hooker Hayden Regan burst out dummy half put Roose over beside the posts to put the visitors in front 6-4 after 50 minutes. However, the lead was short-lived.

Harley Ridge swivelled out of three tackles and then off-loaded to Tony Pellow to cross. Ridge then helped seal the match, breaking the line and sending winger Mao Uta in. DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team.

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