A game in school holidays was always going to be a challenge to field a team – but with all the support from all the other teams in the club, we ended up with a maximum number of players for our round 10 make-up game against Manly.

With Jake, Dan, Harry and Patty all unavailable and Tom suffering from the flu we were down to 8½ players from our regular team, 9½ with Alex Crotti back from his stint in the A’s. So we sought help from all ends. Joey, Paul and Cameron from the A’s, Tristan, James G, and Nathan from the C’s, Tom Ca. from the D’s and Alex R from the Under 9’s all came along to have a run.

Manly turned up and only had 11 players with 2 supposedly on their way. Under the rules we are not required to take a player off the field and with so many reserves (whom had come from other teams to help out on their holidays), I felt it unfair on them to reduce their playing time any further by reducing spots on the field and adding another reserve to the bench. So we began the game a player up on our opponents. Unfortunately the two extra Manly players didn’t ever arrive – but we weren’t to know that at the time.

A converted try to Joey in the 4th minute was all that separated the teams in the first 10 to 12 minutes as both teams battled it out. Hunters Hill played hard but were on the wrong end of the penalty count as we were repeatedly penalized at the ruck and maul. But we had a fair few chances that we could have taken had a few passes have stuck. We began to get some dominance near the end of the half with converted tries to Cameron (13th) and Eddie (15th) giving us a half time lead of 21-0.

We saw some good runs from Andrew, Joey and Max in the first half and at half time Joey left us to go away for the weekend. The second half saw us continue the charge as Manly tired from a lot of defensive work. Converted tries to James R (2nd), Tom (Conoghan) (9th) and unconverted tries to Paul (12th) and Alex R (15th) saw the score line finish 45-0. A good result from our patch work team, but as the opponents only had 11 players, nothing to write home about. Highlights from the second half were Adam’s cleanout work, Max’s defense (which set up Tom’s try), another big run from Max, Ed’s kick (which gained us nearly half the field) and the back line work which continually moved the ball well. Also to mention was Cameron’s big charge up the side line – although on his dad’s advice we had to take him off after attempting a side step.

I thought the Manly team played well and looked good in patches. They will be a different team in the finals.

Many thanks to all the boys and parents that came to help us out in their holidays – you are all always welcome in our team. Next week we play Wakehurst and expect to be back at full strength.

Best and fairest points were awarded by Rod Dufficy this week and remain under wraps till seasons end. Thanks Rod.

Final Score - Hunters Hill 45 (Tries – Joey, Cameron, Ed, James R, Tom C, Paul, Alex R Conversions – Ed 5/5, Sam 0/1, Andrew 0/1) bt Manly 0.

Yours in Rugby

Coach Ben