Starting Team:

Cruz Ah Nau, Scott Podmore, Nick Lah, Rory Walton, Ben Matwijow, Pat Sio, Will Brame, AJ Gilbert, Steve Evans, Dave Harvey, Corey Brown, Chris Tuatara-Morrison, Lachlan Porteous, Peter Schuster, Mitch Walton

Replacements:

James Smith, Tim Fitzgerald, David Hardisty, Tom Lamont, Bill Meakes, Matt White and Nick Curtis

There were some changes in personnel for this week’s game with Samu Wara and Jordan Smiler out and Steve Evans swapping with David Hardisty as the starting halfback. Pat Sio came in at number six for Jordan Smiler and Lachlan Porteous started in the centres for Samu Wara.

There was a very good crowd at TG Milner for this last game of the competition rounds. Eastwood had wrapped up the minor premiership thanks to Norths beating Manly the previous week and their fans had turned up for a celebration.

What they got was a gripping arm wrestle where the defences of both side took delight in belting the opposition. The hard hitting coupled with the strong wind made open attacking football difficult but the closeness of the scores and the willingness of both teams to try to attack at every opportunity kept the crowd very much entertained.

Eastwood were on top early in the game. Running with the aid of the strong wind they kept the pressure on Norths and the Shoremen were finding it difficult to get out of their own half. The Eastwood pack was also disrupting the Norths lineout. This field position was turned into points with two penalty goals to Eastwood in the first 15 minutes of the game for them to lead 6-0.

Norths then put together a fine sequence of play. They skilfully moved the ball into Eastwood territory through multiple phase play probing for a break. An infringement by Eastwood in front of their posts gave Dave Harvey the chance to bring up Norths first points of the game to narrow the score to 6-3 after 20 minutes. Norths had much the better of the game for the middle stages of the first half – but dropped ball and critical turnovers in the set plays again stalled their attack.

A few times Eastwood threatened to break out from these turnovers but Norths scrambling defence was outstanding on each occasion and the halftime bell went with the score at 6-3 in favour of Eastwood.

Number 8 and captain AJ Gilbert and prop Cruz Ah Nau both picked up injuries towards the end of the first half and they were replaced at halftime by Tim Fitzgerald and James Smith respectively. Pat Sio moved to Number 8 and Tim Fitzgerald moved to blindside flanker.

Norths had the wind in the second half but needed to address Eastwood’s advantage in the set pieces. The half didn’t start well in this regard with Norths losing a lineout on their own throw but they again turned back Eastwood’s attack. Norths had an opportunity to bring the scores level after 10 minutes of the half but the kick from Dave Harvey just went wide.

The game then settled down to a tough slog with both teams missing opportunities to gain an advantage. The defences were hurting and players from both sides were guilty of “having a look” when taking the ball in attack. The Norths scrum and lineout had settled down and was now competing well with Eastwood.

Again Norths had the better of play and much of the possession but could not break the Eastwood defence. They also couldn’t get a penalty within kicking distance even though they pressured Eastwood for a prolonged period deep within their half.

With 10 minutes to go hooker Scott Podmore was replaced by Tom Lamont and centre Lachlan Porteous was replaced by Bill Meakes in his first run for a number of weeks after recovering from a foot injury.

Unfortunately after the set pieces working so well a turnover from a Norths scrum saw Eastwood go on the attack. Strong runs by their replacement forwards brought a break and the first try of the game. The conversion was missed but Eastwood had an 8 point break at 11-3.

With only minutes on the clock Norths regained the ball from the kick-off after an Eastwood mistake. The ball went wide to Chris Tuatara-Morrison who had had a strong game in both defence and attack. He made a half break and was able get the ball to his centre partner Bill Meakes who beat the defence to score out wide.

After no tries for 70 minutes, two had now been scored in less than five. Dave Harvey converted the try and Norths had less than two minutes to go for the miraculous win. They did make a half break from the restart but a lost ball brought the move undone and ended the game.

Norths went down by a point but lost no admirers in the process. The momentum built up over the past weeks was still then and the team is in a fine vein of form going into the finals. The team has weathered the disruption of injuries and the “requirements” of the Super 15 clubs and their performance today was again a credit to the players and the coaches and their professionalism.

While all the team again played well today, I thought Nick Lah and Pat Sio were worthy of special mention. Nick had a great game and Pat was a standout especially in the second half when he moved to number 8. Pat could be playing colts this year and he is certainly a star of the future. In the backs Chris Tuatara-Morrison played well and is now one the form centres of the competition. Also worth a mention were the efforts of James Smith and Tim Fitzgerald (I declare a bias here) who came on at halftime after playing a full 80 minutes of second grade and played the game out.

Scorers:

Bill Meakes try, Dave Harvey one conversion and one penalty goal.

Best and Fairest:

3: Chris Tuatara-Morrison
2: Pat Sio
1: Peter Schuster