Western Suburbs Magpies have moved in to top spot on the Intrust Super Premiership ladder with a dominant 44-4 win over the Wentworthville at ANZ Stadium.
Basked in sunshine in front of of a healthy crowd at the former Olympic venue, it was a superb attacking display in the first half that paved the way for Brett Hodgson's side — running in four tries inside the opening 25 minutes of the match to kill off any resistance from the visitors.
A determined chase from Lucas Price opened the scoring for Wests after just six minutes of play as he latched on to the end of a Josh Drinkwater kick, before David Nofoaluma made it back-to-back tries for the home side as he capped off a length-of-the-field attacking raid and kick in behind from Tyson Gamble.
Toni Tali put Mahe Fonua over in the 20th minute to put the hosts on track with the scoreboard, as the tries continued to pour in at ANZ Stadium. An error from Nathan Milone saw Nofoaluma return the favour for Gamble for his earlier assist — putting the five-eighth over under the posts — before a clever kick from Drinkwater just before half-time saw Fonua grab his second try and ensure a commanding half-time lead.
With just one missed conversion from Drinkwater, it was 28-0 in favour of the Magpies at the break.
Both sides were guilty of going through the motions to start the second half with a result seemingly in the bag for the home side, and it eventually led to points for Wentworthville through Nathan Davis.
However, it didn't take long for the home side to return to their scoring ways — a break from Braden Robson was capped off by Luke Garner putting Watson Heleta over for his first try of the day.
Drinkwater's successful conversion took Wests' lead to 34-4 with less than 15 minutes remaining.
A flick from Mahe Fonua that found Robson in space in the middle of the field put the icing on the cake on a great day out for Western Suburbs Magpies, before Nofoaluma ensured top spot on the ladder with a runaway try in the final minute of the game.
Western Suburbs Magpies 44 (Fonua 2, Nofoaluma 2, Gamble, Heleta, Robson tries; Drinkwater 6/7 goals) def. Wentworthville Magpies 4 (Davis tries; Davis 0/1 goals) at ANZ Stadium
