By David Nagel
The passion and excitement of big-time rugby league was on full display at Comely Banks Recreation Reserve as the Pakenham Eels took on a multitude of foes on Saturday.
The Eels Second Grade Men’s team hosted Sunshine Cowboys in a feisty round-15 clash, while the Pakenham juniors welcomed teams from Casey Warriors and Melton Broncos for round-11 encounters.
All teams across the Eels spectrum were in action, apart from the under-15 girls who were forced to sit on the sidelines due to a forfeit from their opposition.
The Eels men’s team would eventually prevail 32-0 against the Cowboys, but not before an early arm-wrestle that saw both teams defensive lines on top.
Scoring was difficult for both sides, until a penalty was awarded to the Eels just before half time with the guilty Cowboy sin-binned.
The Eels took full advantage of the freshly-created open space…scoring twice to open up a healthy half-time lead.
Rain began to fall at the beginning of the second half, and so too did the Cowboys defence, which lead to some frustrations for the visitors.
A wayward swinging arm resulted in an Eels player being clothes-lined and an automatic send off for the Cowboys.
Tempers boiled over on a couple of occasions in the second half, with the on-field referee sending off an Eels player to even up the sides once again.
But the damage had been done, with the Eels riding their home-town support to a convincing victory.
The Eels ran in six tries in total, four being converted, to remain in second place on the ladder.
Earlier in the afternoon the under-15 boys kicked off the competition games while the weather was still kind.
The under-15s have continued to develop this year and they once again put on a clinic, showing discipline in their offence as well as defence.
There were incredible signs of ball movement, with the young Eels sliding the ball across the ground to catch the Melton Broncos defence regularly out of position.
Atticus Buchanan, Sam Afoa and Andrew Frierdich scored twice each for the Eels, with Blake Henderson and Isileli Tuitupou also making try-scoring contributions. The Eels defeated the Melton Broncos 36-0.
The Pakenham Eels have just announced a new Summer NRL touch competition will be held on Friday nights under lights commencing September 16.
The Eels will also we be running a ‘Munchkin’ league for all juniors from three to five years old, then junior touch comps, along with Women’s, Men’s and Mixed/Open competitions for 13 years up.
The Eels have also secured the NRL Victoria grand finals for the competitive grades…which is a huge achievement for the club.
This week the whole Pakenham Eels club travels across the Westgate Bridge to the Melton Broncos home grounds.
