Eltham Rugby 32 – Power House Conference 30
“It ain’t over till it’s over!”, or so the famous saying goes. I’m not sure if this is the preferred game plan from our senior team coaches, but it certainly captures the incredible resilience and determination of the current Eltham squad. Behind 27–30 to the visiting Powerhouse side with three minutes to go, a late Eltham scrum win saw multiple phases played out within the Powerhouse 22m before Hema Buchanan drew three defenders before lobbing a pass for Luc Gavillucci to score out wide to give the home side a 32–30 victory.
A roller coaster of a match played on a “traditional” Bridge St surface (well, not that muddy compared to days of old but muddy enough to prompt photos from some of our opponents), with 7 lead changes, 10 yellow cards (5 apiece), 35 penalties (yep, no typo!), a Powerhouse side with a few new faces not seen in our previous encounter (“youngsters”, I was told…) and a fine goal-kicking performance from Joe Thompson. Key moments included:
- Down 3–5, a break by Riley Strachan from a lineout has Eltham attacking deep into the opposition half, with Hema held up on the line after a tap penalty before Luc scores following a second tap penalty to take the score to 10–5 with Joe’s conversion.
- Powerhouse score to go in front 10–12 before an Eltham penalty goal gives Eltham the lead 13–12 at half-time.
- Powerhouse back in front 13–15 with a penalty goal before Reuben Stanley and Tolu Luatutu combine to take play close to the Powerhouse line before Juke Nona glides through the defence with a converted try to have Eltham ahead 20–15.
- Eltham under pressure unable to clear their own half results in a try to the visitors to level the scores: a subsequent Eltham mistake sees a second try and Powerhouse extend their lead to 20–27.
- Eltham playing an expansive attacking game, with the ball going from one side of the field to the other: a penalty tap sees strong runs from Reuben, Juke and Aisea Naulago before successive penalties has Juke charge over to bring the scores level 27–27 with Joe’s conversion.
- A Powerhouse penalty late in the game to go ahead 27–30.
- A desperate final passage of play with Eltham playing their best rugby of the match to take play deep into the opposition half to score the match-winning try.
Strong performances across the team, with some crunching defensive hits, great attacking plays and a remarkable will to win attitude!
Try scorers: Juke Nona 2, Luc Gavillucci 2 | Conversions: Joe Thompson 3 conversions, 2 penalty goals
⭐ Kuzina Player of the Match: Riley Strachan
A big thanks to our generous sponsor/senior team wrangler Roger Iacobucci (Trees R Us) for player awards and pizza, Sylvia Metcalfe (canteen) and Russ Hurdle (linesman), Theo Trollip who helped “massage” parts of the ground back in place, and to Leigh Thompson who was instrumental in ensuring we were able to mark the ground… early on Saturday morning!
Watch the replay on GameFace 👉 localrugbyhub.com.au
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