By David Nagel
A late try has denied Pakenham Eels a three-game winning streak in NRL Victoria’s Second Grade Men’s competition with the Eels going down 20-16 to Altona Roosters on Saturday.
The Eels went in confident after back-to-back wins over Sunshine Cowboys and Casey Warriors, but were soon put on the back foot as the Roosters went ‘cock-a-doodle-do’ early in the round-10 encounter.
The home side put three tries on the board in the opening half, two to Tokerau Henry, before the Eels replied through Troy Pulupaki to keep themselves in the hunt at the interval.
The Eels came out humming in the second half, with converted tries to David Jonassen-Hammond and Tulifau Asomua giving them a narrow margin in the shadows of full-time.
But a late try to Altona, in the last three minutes of play, saw the home side run out four-point winners.
The narrow loss sees the Eels locked in the middle rungs of the ladder, with eight points secured from nine games played.
The Eels hit the road for their fourth away game in five rounds when they take on ninth-placed North West Wolves on Saturday.
Pakenham must win to keep in touch with the top four.
It was round eight in juniors on the weekend, with all teams also on the road.
The Under-16 Boys took on Northern Thunder and despite scoring early were unable to capitalise, going down 34-22.
Thunder demonstrated a solid attack and broke through the Eels defensive line on numerous occasions to put points on the board.
The Under-14 Boys were defeated by Sunbury Tigers, 40-12, while the Under-14 Girls were also on the wrong side of the ledger, going down 60-12 to Waverley Panthers.
