Sydney Uni once again proved a very difficult team for the Eagles to defeat. On a cold and windy Saturday night under lights at Henson Park the Students pushed the Eagles all the way to the final siren. It was relief more than anything, when the siren sounded for a one point victory for the Eagles.

At half-time everything was going to plan for the Eagles with a 28 point lead but from that point on things started to turn around for the Students. Ryan Smyth and Adam Floyd had succumbed to injury and would take no further part in the game and the intensity and skill level of the students had dramatically increased. When the scoreboard read 6 13 apiece at three quarter time it was anyone’s game. Two early goals in the last quarter seemed to again put the game beyond the students but again they came back. However the Eagles held on to record what can only be said to be a lucky escape. The final score being East Coast 8 16 64 to Sydney Uni 8 15 63.

Coach Rohan Graham would be extremely disappointed with the second half effort of the team but will be glad to take the four points and get ready to take Campbelltown next weekend.

Ben Rogers was a one man band up front for the Eagles kicking five goals out of a total of eight. With Seebeck unavailable and Floyd down injured some one had to stand up and Ben did exactly that. Down back the side was kept in the game by the strong performances of Matt Arbon and Rowan Bilkey. Both were a tower of strength taking down mark after mark in the defensive half. Scott O’Connor also continued to show great improvement with another solid four quarter game from the young ruckmen. The team will have to improve next weekend to have any hope of beating Campbelltown but with the likely hood that Seebeck, Entwisle and Coulloupas will be back, things can only get better.

The reserve grade side continues to win under any circumstances. With an under strength team and in difficult conditions they still did what they had to do and that is win and play great team football. To allow the opposition to only score 2 goals for the whole game was outstanding. Dean Eggleton in his final game for this year was fantastic across half back. He stopped many a forward thrust from the Students and then was instrumental in setting up the play for the Eagles. Carl Doering, Chris Cottee and James Mann all put in strong performances in what was a final’s like game. The Eagles won 9 8 62 to 2 15 27.

The Under 18’s came up against the undefeated North Shore Wildcats and after half time they showed that they can match it with any side. What they must do is start to believe from the word go that they are as good as any other team. The final score was East Coast 8 8 56 to the Wildcats 12 10 82. Joshua Shephard and Jason Moeller lead from the front in all four quarters.

The most pleasing win of the day came from the Challenge cup under 18 team. After coming close on many occasions this season the boys had not yet recorded a victory. From the word go on Saturday morning the team took control of the game and eventually ran out winners by 18 points. Coach Jon Lee has done a great job with this young team and hopefully this is the catalyst for further improvement for the rest of the season. Alex Perkins and Daniel McBride led from the front and led the team to a great victory.

Next week the teams travel to Campbelltown to take on the Blues on Saturday. The Challenge cup boys travel to Sutherland to take on the Southern Sharks.