Endeavour Hills fly-half Rocky Ata’s early penalty conversion was his side’s only score in its 54-3 loss to Box Hill at Frog Hollow Reserve on Saturday.By Marc McGowan
ENDEAVOUR Hills’ recent rich vein of form came to an end on Saturday, with Box Hill delivering a 54-3 thumping of the home side in round six Rugby Union Victoria action at Frog Hollow Reserve.
It was a devastating result for Endeavour Hills after it appeared to be acclimatising to the Premier One grade.
The trend looked set to continue, with the boys in maroon having the early running.
An early penalty was missed by Endeavour Hills fly-half Rocky Ata, but he converted another soon after to give his team a 3-0 lead.
Box Hill monster Moses Haukinima broke the shackles with a typically powerful thrust over the try line to open up the scoring for the visitors, and they did not look back.
It became a procession as Box Hill ran in try after try as the brute power of Haukinima perfectly complemented the speed of full-back Michael Thompson and winger Jay Pumpa.
When Endeavour Hills star Lewis Leamoana joined Villi Ngan-Woo in the sin bin, Box Hill was as rampant as ever, and Gideon Taulengi ran in the half’s final score, which was duly converted by Thompson.
Leamoana’s yellow card was his second of the season, which means he will have to sit out this weekend before joining Eastern Suburbs for its Pillar Cup opener the following Saturday.
The 25-3 half-time deficit for Endeavour Hills quickly got worse and by the final whistle Box Hill had run the home side ragged.
Endeavour Hills coach Mark Thompson believes it was another learning curve in his squad’s debut season at the top level.
“I personally think we were beaten by a better, faster and fitter team,” he said.
“I was actually expecting a closer game, but they came out and gave us a lesson about where you can be if you’re fit and get your game plan and structure in place.”
Box Hill’s strategy, which exposed Endeavour Hills’ lack of speed out wide, took Thompson by surprise.
“I was expecting them to play tighter against us and try to match us in tight play, and then we’d give it to each other out wide later,” he said.
“We were actually trying to keep the ball in close and tight, but every time they got the ball they used their free-flowing wide game.”
Endeavour Hills will be hoping to record its third victory of the year when it faces Footscray at Henry Turner Reserve on Saturday at 3.15pm.
