Wests Magpies have fallen to a 36-10 defeat to Newcastle at Lidcombe Oval in Round 1 of the Knock On Effect NSW Cup.
The visitors held a slim 6-4 lead at half-time but secured a convincing victory after delivering a strong performance in the second half.
Newcastle went close to scoring an incredible try in the fourth minute, however winger Logan Aoake spilt the ball over the line.
The visitors did ultimately collect the first points though, as Connor Votano cleaned up a deflected charge-down to score under the posts after six minutes.
It was a new signing who helped create the Magpies’ first try, as former Rabbitoh Izaac Tu’itupou collected a cross-field kick and offloaded to put Solomone Saukuru over in the corner.
Justin Matamua looked to have scored a second for Wests before it was ruled out for obstruction and the score remained 6-4 to Newcastle at half-time.
The Knights exploded out of the blocks in the second half as Will Pryce dummied his way through the line to send Ayden Hoad to the line for their second try.
A spilt bomb by Wests allowed Pryce to grab a try of his own in the 51st minute to give the Novocastrians an 18-4 lead.
Jermaine McEwen’s long break then led to Pryce setting up Tom Cant for a fourth Newcastle try to extend the scoreline out to 24-4.
The Knights continued to pile on the points, as centre Riley Jones bamboozled the Magpies defence in the 65th minute before Jacob Davis darted over from dummy half to make it 36-4.
Wests did manage to score a second try when Max Liles grubbered for himself and successfully regathered, which proved to be the final four-pointer of the evening.