It was a tough week leading up to the game as there were a number of players out injured and a few more that were unable to play due to work commitments. Unfortunately we didn’t have a full starting side until the warm up and the lack of playing and training time together was obvious from the outset.

Our usual rock solid defence was a shadow of its former self as Balmain found holes to score an early try. This woke the team up and once we had some possession, we were able to build momentum and phases, taking us into their 22 and forcing mistakes from the opposition. Two missed penalty goals and a bombed try meant we didn’t take away any points from the hard work that the team had put in. A number of well-placed kicks and some horrible tackling put us under pressure and Balmain were able to capitalise, taking a 26-0 lead into half time.

Some hard words were spoken at half time and the defence was much better in the second half. A number of penalties allowed the team to work its way into the Balmain 22 and a rolling maul from the ensuing lineout resulted in a converted try being scored by Centre Josh Hayward.

Balmain scored a try in the corner before a great backline play resulted in replacement winger Anthony Scala diving over in the corner, taking the final score to 31-12.

It was disappointing that the great momentum and defensive structure we had built up over the last few weeks didn’t eventuate, however the effort of the guys cannot be questioned.

Individually, Josh Hayward and Luke Fletcher were fantastic. Luke directed the team around the park in challenging circumstances and Josh provided a solid platform in attack and defence. Hamish Beattie had already played two games before playing the entire game for second grade, which was a huge help, as there had already been a number of injuries earlier in the day.

Best & Fairest

3 – Josh Hayward #12, Luke Fletcher #10

1 – Hamish Beattie #1, Andrew Summerton #13