Minor premiership in sight

Graham Croker

When Sydney University First XV signed off with a 31-19 win over Gordon at No.1 Oval on Saturday, it completed another clean-sweep for the club through the grades and Colts.

And with three competition rounds to be played, the win kept alive the possibilities of minor premierships in First and Second grades and the three Colts grades, along with the Club Championship and the Colts Club Championship.

But putting the hypotheticals back in the hip-pocket, the win wasn’t quite as comfortable as the scoreline suggests, although the hosts did score five tries to one.

Sydney University were without the services of number eight Tim Davidson and fullback Nathan Trist (wedding duties) and prop Jerry Yanuyanutawa (injury) and their absences were noted by the Gordon coaching staff.

The Highlanders arrived at The Birthplace with a very competitive scrum that put the hosts under continual pressure, and an aerial assault from five-eighth Dave Harvey squarely aimed at young University fullback Jacob Taylor.
A similar bombing raid at Chatswood Oval last year put University – and Taylor – under extreme pressure, but it didn’t go according to plan on Saturday. Taylor caught everything but swine flu and returned most with better-placed kicks.

The Students were denied taking an early lead when a rolling maul finished over the Gordon line without the desired result. Two thumping runs from Gordon number eight Viliame Ratu soon had them in the University quarter and a penalty in front of the posts allowed Harvey to put the visitors up 3-nil.

With an in-your-face defensive line and aggressiveness at the breakdown, Gordon kept the Students scoreless until the 20th minute when flanker Jono Jenkins skirted up the blindside of a ruck and sent halfback Scott Stumbles over for the first try of the match.

The visitors lost second-rower Kingsley Seale on a yellow card holiday, but reclaimed the lead 6-5 with another Harvey penalty goal.
It was short-lived, however, when University five-eighth Daniel Halangahu put his stamp on proceedings. Having put the Students deep into the Gordon quarter with a long-range kick that produced a University lineout throw, he then threaded the visitor’s defensive line with a left-foot step and the aid of some decoy runners. He added the extras for a 12-6 scoreline.

Both sides were guilty of too much kicking as the half wore on. Harvey landed his third penalty goal in the 34th minute and levelled the score at 12-all in the shadow of halftime, thanks to a Gordon tighthead scrum that decimated the University eight and resulted in the backs being caught off-side in defence.

The visitors had dominated at the scrum and territorially in the first half, but kicked away too much possession, while the University backline, so effective in recent weeks, had troubles with handling and thrust.

That all changed from the restart when the hosts lifted the tempo of the game and their intensity. A series of phases featuring runs from outside-centre Tom Carter, Halangahu, prop Scott Cameron, Taylor, and second-rowers Ben McCalman and Dave Dennis resulted in Stumbles lobbing a no-look reverse pass for winger Nick Edwards to score under the posts. Halangahu’s conversion pushed the score to 19-12.

Gordon replied with a six-phase assault but the Students repelled the effort and put the game out of reach with back-to-back tries.

Halangahu engineered the first with a grubber that was regathered. From the resulting ruck he steered the ship to the port side and fired a long cut-out pass to Dennis, who scored in the corner.

The restart was fielded by University number eight Patrick McCutcheon, who stormed through the Gordon defence and linked with inside-centre Richie Finau, who found Jenkins in support to finish off an 80-metre try. Halangahu’s conversion pushed the score to 31-12. Jenkins only had minutes to enjoy the moment before being yellow-carded for some over-zealous work at the breakdown.

The visitors hit back midway through the half with Harvey, fullback Dane Haylett-Petty and outside-centre Mark Preston taking play deep into the University quarter before Harvey sent flanker Craig Thomas through a gaping defensive hole to score. Harvey’s conversion was the final score in a match that never lost anything in intensity but went missing in the beauty stakes.

Scrummaging might be a priority this week as the Students prepare to take on fifth-placed Eastern Suburbs at Woollahra Oval on Saturday.

They’ll then meet Manly at Manly Oval before rounding out the season proper with a match against fourth-placed Eastwood at University No.1 Oval.

Footnote: For a exciting entree, get to the ground early to see the University Second Grade going around. They’ve played some great attacking football in recent weeks and came from behind on Saturday, with a Peter Betham try on the bell securing the points to maintain the competition lead.

Shute Shield – Round 19

First Grade: Sydney University 31 (Dave Dennis, Jono Jenkins, Scott Stumbles, Daniel Halangahu, Nathan Edwards tries; Daniel Halangahu 3 goals) d Gordon 19 (Craig Thomas try; Dave Harvey goal, 4 pen goals) at Sydney University No.1 Oval.
Second Grade: Sydney University 17 (Hugh Hawkins, Julian James, Peter Betham tries; Justin Bosilkovski goal) d Gordon 14 (Donny Nepia, Andrew Wiles tries; Donny Nepia 2 goals).
Third Grade: Sydney University 38 (Tim Cohen 2, Harry Marples 2, Michael Woodward, Tom Coolican tries; Mathew Stewart 4 goals) d Gordon 19 (Kieren Lewis, Kimon Tellidis, Sai Vakrau tries; Pete Smith 2 goals).
Fourth Grade: Sydney University 59 (Faiva Silosi, Josh Munro, Ian Hilliard, Alex Finsh, Hugo Desens, James Cameron, Will Stow, T Yoshida tries; Josh Munro 8 goals) d Gordon 10 (Andrew Cosgrove try; Anton Harris goal, pen goal).
Colts
First Grade: Sydney University 43(6 tries) d Gordon 27 (5 tries) at Chatswood Oval.
Second Grade: Sydney University 26 (4 tries) d Gordon 7.
Third Grade: Sydney University 24 (4 tries) d Gordon 12.