WESTERN Suburbs and Port Macquarie’s Paddy Coelho are still looking for their first NSW State Cup.
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Coelho scored a try and delivered the final pass for another, but it wasn’t enough as the Magpies suffered a heartbreaking 5-4 loss.
It caps off a trifecta of final losses after defeat in both the 2013 and 2014 events.
They trailed 3-0 after 10 minutes before Coelho played his part with the final pass for the first try.
It started a run of four unanswered tries as the Magpies looked set to end their State Cup drought and finally get the monkey off their back.
They held that lead until six and a half minutes remained and then pressed the Panthers line in the dying seconds when they trailed by one, but couldn’t find the final pass.
“It would have been nice (to score in a title-winning side), but it’s off to next year I guess,” Coelho said.
“We’re still in the hunt for our first State Cup.”
When asked how the team felt after being on the end of the Panthers’ quick start, Coelho was confident the side had the ability to come back and wipe off the deficit.
“Everyone in our team dug deep to get us back in front and it just shows the heart and belief in our team,” he said.
“We knew we had it inside us, but being 3-0 down didn’t help.”
Coelho said the team simply ran out of puff.
“We were running with 12 men against 14 so it was never easy, but sometimes that’s what happens in these tournaments and you get injuries,” he said.
“We got back to the front, but we just didn’t have the legs.”
The 22-year-old Port Macquarie product was disappointed to again fall short after the side won the Vawdon Cup five weeks ago.
The Vawdon Cup competition is a weekly competition conducted throughout the Sydney Metropolitan area catering for Open, Senior and Youth divisions.
It has 12 rounds, a final series and commences in early August each year.
It was the perfect preparation for the side and Coelho said Wests will be back for another crack next year.
“We’ll get there one day; we just need a bit of luck, we’ll be right.”
We’re still in the hunt for our first State Cup.
- Paddy Coelho