Eltham 31 Melton 59
While well-beaten 31-59 by a big, mobile Melton team on Saturday, a breakdown of the score across the two halves provides interesting insight into Eltham’s performance. In the first half, Melton outscored Eltham five tries to two, aided by some tepid Eltham defence early in the match. In the second half, on the back of a strong Eltham scrum and lineout, and an invigorated defence, the gap closed to four tries to three in Melton’s favour. Not the first time this year that Eltham has had to play catch-up after a slow start.
Key moments include:
- Early tries to Melton had the visitors up 0-14 after only eight minutes before a number of penalties against Melton saw Luc Gavillucci tap and go over under the posts, with Daniel Gannon converting to have the lead cut to 7-14.
- A slew of Melton tries saw their lead extend to 7-35, with Eltham gifting too many turnovers to the opposition. Some strong Eltham defence with Riley Strachan, Reuben Stanley, Atinae Faumina and Alex Cara prominent lifted the level of “chat” from the opposition players.
- A strong passage of play from Eltham, with a break by Eliah James seeing Eltham string together multiple phases with forwards and backs combining well.
- A quick tap by Eliah James inside the Melton 22 had Riley tackled by defenders in an offside position resulting in a penalty try just before half-time to have the score 14-35.
- After Melton extend their lead to 14-42, we were treated to eight successive penalties going Eltham’s way deep in the Melton half before Luc scores from yet another tap. With Daniel’s conversion the score is 21-42.
- With some heavy hits coming from both sides, an Eltham lineout win inside the Melton 22 has the ageless Ari Su’a go over following an Eltham pick-and-drive to have the score at 26-42.
- With Samu Rokoraivoka attracting attention in the form of a couple of shoulder charges, resulting in a yellow card, an Eltham maul from the ensuing lineout sees Reuben scoring to take the scoreline to 31-47.
- Eltham held up over the opposition line; two more tries to Melton to seal victory 31-59.
- Special mention to i) Dimitri Vourvahakis who returned to the field of play after “self-repairing” a popped shoulder, going on to make some key tackles, and ii) newcomer Alex Zanta, crunched by an opposition player twice his size, defying the odds to pick himself up off the turf and get back into the fray. Gutsy stuff!
Kuzina Player of the Match: Riley Strachan
Try scorers: Luc Gavillucci (2), Ari Su’a, Rueben Stanley Conversions: Daniel Gannon 2 One penalty try
Other match statistics (Eltham/Melton): Penalties 7/13; Errors 8/7; Kicks 11/8; Possession 48%/52%; Territory 50%/50% (with thanks to Theo Trollip).
A big thanks to all our volunteers, in particular Leigh Thompson and Rob Maddalena for ground marking and setting up.
Full replays can be found at https://localrugbyhub.com.au/explores. Click on the View tab on the left-hand panel and scroll down to the match of interest.
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