The Shoals remain unbeaten in the Illawarra District Rugby Union competition following a comprehensive 34-14 victory over the previously unbeaten competition leaders Campbelltown Harlequins. Despite being unbeaten, the Shoals still trail Campbelltown on the competition ladder as we have a game in hand against Kiama still to be played on Digger Day in July as a catch up game.
The Shoals went into the game with the same side that defeated Bowral at Eridge Park and the combinations that the team are being able to put together became unstoppable in the second half. The Shoals scrum and line out were functioning well and this gave the Shoals lightning quick backline a bit of space to move and they did not let the team down with some great tries.
The Campbelltown side, despite having loads of talent were nowhere near a disciplined as the Shoals team, and let themselves down with some poor decisions which the referee had no option but to punish. A number of yellow cards to the Campbeltown side gave Shoals a distinct advantage, however the Harlequins only had themselves to blame. Some loose ball in broken play was like manna from heaven for Steve and Mark Brandon and their electric pace left the Campbelltown players in their wake with Steve scoring 1 try and Mark scoring 2 tries.Further tries to Angus Maddinson and Harri Hibbs saw the Shoals skip away in the second to post 34 points in an excellent performance.
This weekend sees Shoals play competition heavyweights (I mean that in a literal way) Avondale at home at Rugby Park. The Shoals haven’t defeated Avondale for nearly 10 years, and this weekend is a great opportunity to change that. It will be a difficult assignment as Avondale will be coming off their first loss in 2 years after they went down to Shamrocks last weekend, so they will be stinging after that defeat.
It has been shown in the past that sides who don’t give the very large Avondale players much room to move ha be been the most successful. The defence getting up in the face of the Avondale players doesn’t give them the opportunity to get motoring, and this is needed to stop their potent attack.
The second grade side went down to Campbelltown 24-0 in a disappointing performance to register their second loss on the trot after winning their first 4 games in the competition. The Shoals don’t have a great record away from home, however with the next game at home at Rugby Park we will hopefully see an improvement and the lads getting back in the winners circle.
After the home game this weekend, there are a number of tremendous activities planned in the Clubhouse. It would be great to see a big crowd staying on after the game to witness some great events such as:
6:30pm. Shoals milk off - a competition to find the best milker in the Club
7:00pm. Perfect match - watch as the Shoals most eligible Batchelors vie for their perfect match
7:30pm. Shoals couples cocktails for 2

So let’s all get along to the Shoals clubhouse after the game to join in the fun.