By Oscar Nowak Allcorn, Oakhill Y8 Student & Waratah’s Junior Reporter
Photos courtesy of Michael Remaili
What a beautiful day for the last rugby game of the competition - the temperature reached 27 degrees, the sun was out and the sea breeze kept everyone cool. There was some great rugby played in these perfect conditions at Pittwater Rugby Park and with St Augustine’s getting the better of Oakhill, the final score was 71-5.
The referee Matthew Abraham blew his whistle to start the game. Oakhill kicked to St Augustine’s. 30 seconds into the game and Oakhill conceded a penalty. St Augustine’s just kept running at them. At the 50 meter line, Oakhill conceded another penalty. St Augustine’s gave the ball to their backs but they were shut down by Oakhill’s backs. After 5 phases of flowing rugby, they made their way to the 22-metre line. Unfortunately for Oakhill, they conceded another penalty. 3 phases later St Augustine’s number 9 Lachlan Cruickshank passed the ball to number 5 Tom Douglas who reached over the try line and put the first points up for St Augustine’s.
10 minutes into the first half and Oakhill had very few hands on the ball, which was controlled by St Augustine’s, as we saw them score 2 tries in the opening 10 minutes.
St Augustine’s forwards had the ball for the majority of the game. 14 minutes into the game and St Augustine’s used their backs. They passed the ball all the out to the winger James Lewis. He had no one in front of him and scored in the corner of the try line.
A great try-saving tackle by Jordan Lee Bacon followed. He tackled his opposite number James Lewis who unfortunately sustained an ACL injury in this tackle.
There were a lot of penalties conceded by both teams. This led to a lot of line-outs. Oakhill’s number 6 Joshua Denison and number 5 Bailey Liddicoat did very well to catch Oakhill’s balls and also snatch some of St Augustine’s balls.
There were only 3 minutes left in the first half of the game and St Augustine’s had been dominating this half scoring a whopping 5 tries. But that number soon changed as St Augustine’s found another opportunity to score. Oakhill had the ball at the halfway line but it was stripped out of their hands by number 6 Ed Sproule. Sproule ran 10 metres before passing it to number 10 Daniel O’Donnell who ran 30 metres with it. O’Donnell knew he was going to get tackled by Oakhill’s fullback Dylan Madden so he passed the ball to his inside man number 13 Benji Gallacher who ran the last 10 meters of the field to score St Augustine’s 6th try of the game.
Half time approached and the score sat at 42-0.
It was St Augustine’s turn to kick off to Oakhill to start the second half. Both teams had great runs with the ball in the first 10 minutes of the second half. 12 minutes into the second half St Augustine’s number 8 Langi Gleeson made a great line break. He sprinted towards the try line but Oakhill fullback Dylan Madden had him covered.
Langi Gleeson heard his winger number 22 calling for the ball. Langi passed the ball to him and he was away, scoring another try for St Augustine’s.
Later in the second half, Oakhill performed a well-manufactured play from the backs. It was Oakhill’s scrum on the 22-metre line. Oakhill’s captain and number 10 Flynn Angles-Corke passed the ball to inside centre Zachary Fitzhenry who broke through 3 tackles and scored Oakhill’s first points of the game.
St Augustine’s continued their momentum and scored 4 more tries in the second half.
St Augustine’s just got the better of Oakhill scoring 6 tries in the first half and 5 in the second half. As the final siren went off St Augustine’s were very happy with the 71-5 win against Oakhill.
As this was the last game of the rugby season St Augustine’s came out on top to be the undefeated premiers of the ISA competition. Oakhill came 5th in the ISA competition.
I would like to wish all the year 12 Oakhill boys good luck with their HSC and all their endeavours after high school. I have really enjoyed reporting on the games this season. Big thanks to Mr Ellwood, Mr Carroll and the boys for allowing me behind the scenes access.
St Augustine’s Best & Fairest Player - Langi Gleeson (Number 8)
Oakhill Best Player - Tom Watson (Number 13)
