Endeavour Hills fly half Seyla Khat and his side are rapidly emerging in the tough Premier One Rugby Union Victoria competition after another impressive win at McPherson Reserve in Melton on Saturday. Picture: Stewart Chambers.By Marc McGowan
OPPOSITION Premier One Rugby Union Victoria sides had better be taking notice.
Endeavour Hills, in its debut season in the competition, smashed winless Geelong 38-7 on Saturday at McPherson Reserve in Melton to the newcomer two wins in as many weeks.
It follows a nail-biting 22-17 victory over the Northern Panthers.
The club’s impressive opening half performances continued on the weekend as it blew out to a 31-7 advantage by the break through its superior strength and physicality.
This dominance was highlighted early in the contest when through repeated physical encounters in the scrums, a Geelong player was forced from the field in the eighth minute.
Endeavour Hills coach Mark Thompson was delighted with his side’s ferocity.
“We absolutely destroyed their scrum to the point that one of their front row forwards went down injured,” he said.
“We couldn’t continue with scrums, so we went to non-contested scrums.”
Together with its dominance in the lineouts, Endeavour Hills proved far too good and put the game’s result almost beyond doubt at half-time.
Only a solitary try was scored in the second half, which further bloated the margin, but Endeavour Hills was a worthy and easy winner.
Last week’s stand-out display by Tim Finau was backed up by the 20-year-old against Geelong, although the load was spread more evenly, with Rocky Ata’s playmaking skills a feature.
The team has been strengthened by several walk-ins since the season has started and will be further reinforced this weekend when rising star Lewis Leamoana makes his 2007 debut for the senior squad.
Leamoana has spent the initial part of the year building his fitness in the Colts as he prepares to play for the Eastern Suburbs in the elite Pillar Cup, which begins on 30 June.
Thompson has been pleased with his outfit’s revival after opening the season with two losses.
“I’m very happy with how the team went,” he said.
“A lot of positives came out of last weekend’s game for me, so all we need now is to gel as a team.
“Our guys did quite a bit of training on our scrummaging on Thursday night and we went out very enthusiastically.”
The big test comes on Saturday when Endeavour Hills faces Southern Districts, which sits in fourth spot with one loss, at Frog Hollow Reserve from 3.05pm.
“This weekend, I’m hoping to contest against them in the forwards,” Thompson said.
“Their backs are a known quantity and we can probably match them, but we need to match them in the forwards.
“I think they have the best forward pack in the competition, but you never know what may happen this weekend.
“Give us another season and people will be looking over their shoulders at us.”
