Hillies 1st Grade had a great opportunity on Sunday to beat high flying Briars, and for the first 40 minutes it looked like they were more then capable.
The wet weather weekend meant a number of players would not be available.
Duncan Taylor, Burzin Mehta, Dave Marshall and Alex Light were unavailable, and it¹s credit to the depth on the Hillies squad that Bruce Purcell, Will Carew and Colman Taylor all slotted into the line-up. It was also a great sight to see Sammy Henry returning to the team, and last years top points scorer showed us he hasn¹t lost his ability with his boot, scoring two penalties and a conversion.
It started so well for Hillies, with the light weight pack playing a good close rucking game, sucking in the Briars defence. Persistent attacks on the Briars try-line led to Purcell crossing for a good team try. Hunters Hill carried on the same way, growing in confidence. Good work from centre Ben Bates released prop Dave Weston into a bit of space. His pop to Dean Thomson led to Canaan Tuhura placing the ball down for Hillies 2nd try. A penalty from Henry extended the lead to 15-0 at half time.
It is a mystery then to see just how Hillies lost this game. The 2nd half was completely different story. Credit to Briars, as they brought it to Hunters from the kick off, and the game plan, which had worked so well in the first half, had gone out of the window. Briars scored 3 tries in the 2nd half, 2 conversions and 1 penalty. Mistakes, poor decision making and a failure to get a hold of the game which was in Hillies hands led to a 19-18 loss. A penalty from Henry was not enough and the team could only ponder where it went wrong. If there is a positive to come away from the game, it¹s that Hillies are still in the top 4 (King¹s have a game in hand), and all the games lost this season have been have been very winnable. Hillies can approach the 2nd half of the season with no fear and with the motivation that the semi finals and even a Club Championship are still very much up for grabs.
The 2nd Grade was a completely different story, The clubs most consistent side showed why they are top of the ladder with a 36-12 bonus point defeat of Briars. Tries from La La, Adrian Harvey, Jordan Butler and two from Alex Vertoudakis displayed Hillis intentions that they have no plans to slow their momentum for the Semis. Nick Roach led from the front row and was everywhere, and a mention to coach Mark French, who slotted into Full Back due to player absentees.
A little bit of luck finally went 3rd Grade¹s way and a penalty from Richie Colley just on full time gave the lads a 20-19 win. Tries from Liam Cooper, colt Cosmo Jones and Nathan Michael kept Hillies in the game until the very end before Colley came off the bench to slot over the winner.
4th Grade stay in the top four with a 31-7 win against the bottom of the ladder Briars. Hillies are 2nd with a game in hand. Tries from Adam Limberiou, Richard Colley, Michael Murphy, Viren Fernando and Andrew Harvey, added to the three conversions from Laurence Mullan.
The Colts had an outstanding day and almost scored a century, but had to settle for an eye opening 94-0 win. The tries were fairly evenly spread out over the entire team. Whitaker, Lloyd, Wood, Jonathan Ah Lam, and Havea grabbed the tries for the forwards. Reid, Kucia, Nutty and Paul Ah Lam representing the backs. Paul Ah Lam also scored an incredible 12 conversions making his points tally for the day 29. The Colts lie in mid table and have every opportunity to make that top 4.
5th Grade had a tough game against Mosman and went down 46-0. There was a mixture of older and younger players in the team, and they sit at mid table in the Halligan Cup.
Points
1st Grade lost 19-18
3 Lindfield (Fosters)
2 Weston (Harpoon)
1 Bates (The Master)
2nd Grade won 36-12
3 Roach (Something not printable)
2 Smithy (Chippy)
1 Jesse (Crouching Tiger)
3rd Grade won 20-19
3 Rob Gray (Monochrome)
2 Cooper (Chicken)
1 Fernando (Drums)
4th Grade won 31-7
3 Craig Moss (Nokia)
2 Mike Evans
1 Mike Murphy
Colts won 94-0
3 Paul Ah Lam
2 Alex Lloyd (Amazing)
1 Sean Rodgers
5ths loss 0-46
3 Milo
2 Nathan James
1 Dale McLovin