Bald Eagles make it 3 wins in a row
The Baldies welcomed ADFA to the Nest for the first time as the new kids on the block to the South Coast Monaro competition. Despite a pre-game pep talk from Luke Wild with the inspirational words, “let’s show these boys how to march”, the earlier start time had the boys looking like they would rather be in bed than out on the rugby field.
Maybe having the usual firepower in the scrum would have ignited the boys into action, however, ADFA elected to go uncontested before kick-off. Early breakthrough running from Ash Unicomb and Joe Loeschnaur, saw the Baldies cross for an early try. In a slow first half, the Baldies struggled to find some rhythm against ADFA, but despite this, Big Joe continued to be the powerhouse that we have all come to rely on and scored a second try, with an unfortunate missed conversion attempt. Late in the first half, a crunching tackle by Sam Richards as ADFA looked to get out of their half, saw ADFA back on the defence, with Sam Richards coming up with a try and conversion to finish the half with a 19-0 lead.
As this is a family club, we cannot repeat what was said by the coach at halftime, however, he will claim what was said inspired a second half like no other. Early tries to Ben Stuart, Jay Bartholomew, and Ash Unicomb kicked the half off with a bang. Strong running down the wing by Barry Stringfellowsaw ADFA on the defence and Luke Shaw breaking through for a try.
The Baldies had managed to put their intended game plan into action, finding structure and momentum, despite Jay Bartholomew being shown the cheese for the second time which we all know equals two cases. Strong chasing fromLuke Shaw and Anthony Bell ensured that the young guns from ADFA were captured before they could retaliate on the scoreboard.
The second half saw the Baldies gain a further advantage when Ollie Kwong pinched an ADFA line out, which was finished with a try to Luke Wild who did this all with tissues up his nose! What a champion! ADFA were stuck in their half, with stolen possession and metres by Joe Loeschnaur, Sam Richards finished off with another try. Not to be outdone, the enforcer off the bench Ben Stuart used his size to his advantage and capitalised with another try.
A knock on to ADFA, followed up by a breakthrough run by Ollie Kwong, although by the end of it, it looked like he was running on the treadmill, an offload to Justin Dariol saw a team effort to reach the try line. Another run down the wing from Luke Shaw saw him score his second try, lucky it was only 2 this game. A final try to Sam Richards saw the game come to a conclusion, and he finished with a hattrick, making up for the missed conversions throughout the game. The Baldies finished up with an 85-0 scoreline, their best so far and completing a hat-trick of wins at home.
Next week the Baldies are back on the road to take on their fierce rivals from Bungendore.
Points
Players’ player
Chick pick