By David Nagel
The Pakenham Eels Rugby League Club has shown great character to bounce back from a tough week at the office to defeat Truganina Rabbitohs in Men’s Second Grade competititon on Saturday.
It was a kick in the guts for the Eels to have to forfeit their round 12 contest against Waverley, but it was a refreshed and revitalised team that took to Comely Banks Recreation Reserve on the weekend.
And after a 30-12 victory over the Rabbitohs…the Eels season appears to be back on track!
Despite cold, wet and windy conditions – not conducive to high-quality rugby league – the Eels showed dashing flair to score six tries to one.
Three of those tries were converted as the Eels took their chances against a tough Truganina defence.
The win sees the Eels slide nicely into third place on the ladder with just three rounds remaining in the season.
The Eels face a tough test against second-placed Sunshine this week, at 3.30pm on Saturday, at Arthur Beachley Reserve.
Pakenham’s junior competitive teams, the 18s and 16s, both put up competitive performances despite going down to the Werribee Bears.
The 18s lost a hard-fought contest against the Bears, losing 8-6 after conceding two tries to one.
The Bears opened the scoring after 38 minutes of play, before Brian Naua returned fire just six minutes later.
A Tealofa Lota conversion saw the Eels take the lead, before the Bears ran over for the last try of the match to walk away with victory.
And the under 16s put up a brave fight, going down 28-14 to the Bears.
Despite the loss, the Eels youngsters are showing great improvement on the field with an organised offensive approach really standing out on the day.
There has been much improvement in this side during the latter half of the season and the Eels look forward to having this team ready and set for a massive 2024 season.
Charlie Bannister took on a great workload, scoring two tries for the game.
This week all teams are away, with the seniors, 18s and 16s all trekking to the Sunshine Cowboys home field at Arthur Beachley.
The under 18s take on the Sunshine Tigers, while the 16s lock horns with Altona Roosters.
Results R13: Sunshine Cowboys 26 def Waverley Panthers 8, Casey Warriors 58 def Eastern Raptors 18, Pakenham Eels 30 def Truganina 12.
Ladder: Casey 24, Sunshine 20, Waverley 14, Pakenham 8, Eastern 6, Truganina 0.
Fixture R14: Sunshine (2) v Pakenham (4), Waverley (3) v Casey (1), Eastern (5) v Truganina (6).
