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18's playing for finals berth
Pambula 28 Eden 26
August 8th 2010 by Dave Evelyn
Following last Sundays close loss to arch rivals Pambula, the Tiger cubs place in the finals series all comes down to this weekend's match against Cobargo. A victory for the Tigers will see them move forward into the finals. A loss will see the cricket whites come out of the cupboard and dreams of premiership glory unfulfilled.
In last weekends match the Tigers got off to a rousing start when Dylan Fletcher piloted a 40-20 deep into Pambula territory in the first set. From the next set hooker Andrew Evelyn, celebrating his birthday, gave his team a great start by slipping through the Pambula defence close to the posts . Dylan's conversion gave the Tigers an early lead. Eden were unlucky not to score again minutes later when a dropped ball on the second tackle saw a golden chance missed. From the restart Pambula received a penalty, forced a goal line restart, receive another penalty and then finally score after running the ball on the 5th tackle.
Pambula dropped the ball from the kickoff, putting Eden on the attack inside the 20, but the ball was dropped on the first tackle and a golden opportunity went begging. Pambula recovered and at the end of their next set in possession put in a deep kick which was knocked on. From the restart Pambula scored and took the lead 10-6. Eden received a rare penalty and hit back almost immediately when Toby Timms took the ball on the burst and left several defenders sprawling in his wake as he touched down after good lead up work by Pixie Geraghty to level the scores.
Pambula received another penalty and worked play downfield to score the next try and take a 6 point lead, and then scored another almost immediately to extend the lead to 22-10. Anothe penalty to Pambula put them on the attack but the Tigers held on and the score remained at 22-10 at the break.
Coach Mick Wykes urged his charges to do the simple things right- to hold possession and play the game at Pambula's end. The team was playing well but critical errors were costing them in attack and defence.
The second half began with Pambula receiving another questionable penalty for a strip, but when the Dogs turned the ball over on the second tackle Toby Timms made them pay when he blasted across the line for his second try. The Fletcher conversion brought the Tigers back tio within 6 of the lead.Toby was having a top game and his bone jarring defence forced a handling error. Eden capitalised on the possession and Cody Crane was rewarded for his tireless work when he scored an unconverted try to bring the Tigers to within 2 points of the lead. The momentum of the match had changed dramatically and the Tigers were looking confident, while the Dogs were struggling. When Toby Timms scored his third try Eden took the lead 26-22.
From the restart a controversial ruling allowing a blatant Pambula shoulder charge ( against the rules in 18's) saw the Doggies regain possession, force a goal line drop and score a try after running the ball on the 5th again. The visitors were back in front 28-26. Eden went back on the attack and were denied what appeared to be a legitimate try when that man Toby Timms was ruled to have been held up over the line. To make matters worse, it was only the 4th tackle but the Pambula side were given a 20m tap, denying the Tigers a chance to get a kick or have one final shot at the line.
Things only got worse when Pambula were awarded another penalty when the markers were deemed to not be square. A blatant mistake from Pambula when a very poor play the ball was allowed added further frustration to the home side's woes.A late penalty to Pambula, which brought the penalty count to 8-3 in their favour, saw the visitors scrape home in what was a very entertaining match.
For Eden Toby Timms was a standout. He was well supported by Geraghty, Crane and Jamie Mohammed. Morgan Bell played his best game for some time and was heavily involved in attack and defence. Crowd favourite John Kendall brought off some huge hits in defence. Chris Challinor dragged himself out of his sick bed and played his heart out. All the boys deserve credit for the way they played, and most astute judges were of the opinion that the Tigers were very unlucky not to win the match.
As I have been writing all season, this side CAN go on and win the premiership. There is nothing between the sides in under 18's this year, and if we can get everybody to training and then fit for the games this side can bring home a historic title which has eluded the Eden club since 1995. But we MUST beat Cobargo this weekend. All league lovers are urged to get down to George brown oval next Sunday to cheer the boys on. Check match times in the Magnet- last weekend there was confusion about starting times with the officials not present at the designated kick off time.
TIGGER