Handling errors to blame in Eagles loss to Owls
The Eagles were unable to make it three wins in a row on the weekend, falling to Uni-Norths 32-21 on Saturday at ANU North Oval.
In a very stop-start game the Eagles fought hard in the scrum, however, found themselves under pressure throughout the game with Owls controlling the ball, forcing penalties and handling errors from the Eagles.
It was a tough slog for both sides in the first ten minutes of the game, with a lot of errors and penalties going against both sides. The Eagles struck the first blow in the battle of the birds through means of a penalty try. A convocation with a huge rolling maul forced an Owls penalty near the try line, giving us the automatic seven points.
Owls responded with a penalty goal from directly in front at the other end to cut the Eagles lead to 7-3. However, this was short-lived as an Owls error, gave us an opportunity at the scrum which Corey Toole and Isaac Crowe took advantage of by combining on the right wing to score. Caputo added the extra two and the Eagles took an early 14-3 lead.
Owls were able to wrestle back the momentum and crossed for two tries after getting a series of penalties to lead at the half, 22-14.
The Eagles answered an earlier second half try by the Owls by forcing an error on the opposition try line. Off the back of some good pressure on the Owls defence, the ball moved out to Kala who showed size and strength to his opponent by breaking the one-on-one tackle before scoring. Caputo again added the extras to edge the Eagles closer.
The Eagles showed their speed and ability to break the lines in the latter stages of the game, however, made too many handling errors. The final score read 32-21 in favour of the home side.
A competition bye next weekend, means no games in the John I Dent Cup. Our boys will be back at the Nest the following week, looking to make amends against competition leaders, Vikings.
Our Women’s 10s side will still be taking to the field in their Round 5 clash against ADFA at the Dowsett Playing fields this weekend, it would be great to see plenty of support to cheer them on!
Lastly, happy Mother’s Day to all of the Eagles Mum’s out there!