Eltham 49 def. Kiwi Hawthorn/Maroondah/Melbourne 28
Fourteen seconds. That is all it took.
Eltham kicked off at Griff Hunt Reserve, Harvey chased it down, and the ball went out to Roman P who put it under the posts before most of the sideline had finished their coffee. Arguably the greatest start we have had all season, and Orin added the extras. 0 to 7.
The home side answered inside a minute and the game settled into a proper contest, both teams committing hard in the tackle and neither giving an inch. Orin produced a lovely piece of running early, dodging what felt like the entire opposition while he waited for support to arrive.
At the ten minute mark our scrum went to work and Harvey went over off the back of it. Three minutes later Roman P carried two defenders across the line for a big try, and a stomach full of game ball for his trouble. 7 to 21.
Then came the defence. Six phases on our own try line, with Fraser, Roman W and Caleb in absolutely everything, until the opposition were forced out for a line out. Nas, Harvey and Alex were palming off players left, right and centre. Malachi was throwing around players twice his size. It was a rough, physical morning and both teams turned up for it.
Kiwi Hawthorn hit back to make it 14 to 21, but Orin recovered beautifully, the forwards backed him up, and the ball found Harvey for a 50 metre try. 14 to 28.
The backs were flowing by now. Caleb broke the line with Malachi there to support, and Ethan seemed to be in every single tackle. A quick line out and clean hands through the backs put Orin over right on the half. 14 to 35 at the break.
Caleb, Artie, Ethan and Fraser formed the Eltham wall in the second half, and a special mention to Artie for a full length dive under the ball on our own line, just missing out on the save.
When the opposition pulled one back to make it 21 to 35, Eltham got angry. Josh and Malachi started throwing bodies around, a turnover came, and Artie ran the entire length of the opposition sideline. Malachi backed him up and carried it to within five metres, and Josh bulldozed his way over. 21 to 42.
Another strong scrum, another Harvey special, this time pummelling through the defence to score under the posts. 21 to 49. Orin, who did not miss all day, made it seven from seven.
Josh then completely levelled his opposite number in a tackle that will be talked about for weeks. Nas shook off a lifting tackle as things got willing late, and we spent the dying minutes defending our own line before Kiwi Hawthorn snuck over at the death. We think. Nobody on the sideline was entirely sure.
Final score: Eltham 49, Kiwi Hawthorn/Maroondah/Melbourne 28.
A word on Harvey. He tackled from the first whistle to the last, sniped down the side of the ruck all morning, ran half the field for one of the tries of the season, and finished with three. An outstanding game.
Orin was everywhere too. He covered the backline every time the ball went in behind, put in a number of tackles, and was always looking to move the ball forward rather than take the easy option. A try of his own and seven from seven off the boot. A complete morning’s work.
Player of the Day: Roman W. Great work at training and even better tackling on the day. Setting the standard through the week is exactly how you earn a morning like this.
- Tries: Harvey (3), Roman P (2), Orin, Josh
- Conversions: Orin (7 from 7)
Huge thanks to everyone who made the trip out to support the team, and to Chris for the running sideline commentary that made this report possible.
Let’s go Eltham!
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