Courageous Eels Go Close

The sun beat down (30c) as the Eels 16s warmed up for their Grand Final, but they couldn’t help but be drawn to the 14s Final taking place on the adjacent pitch, as the Eels slid over to win a truly epic game in Golden Point, the joy was hard to contain from everyone involved with the club.
(Full Match Report for this game to follow.....Tank)

The Eels took to the field knowing a big effort was needed, with three Broncos lads & other good players unavailable due to a South Africa Rugby Tour & family holidays, it meant the Eels had only 14 players, to take on the strength of a fully operational London Skolars 20 player squad.....it was clear they would be facing freshly rotated players throughout the game.

The Eels started brightly, with several opportunities to score early, but failed to capitalise.

Back to back penalties gave Skolars the upper hand, going over the stripe to open their account.

Skolars 6 Eels 0

Ten minutes in & the Eels had another set back, as Ben Kennedy scooted from Hooker & got wiped out with a high shot, after a concussion assessment from the Broncos medical staff, it was agreed he should take no further part in the game.

Down to 13 players, with no interchanges available, it was clear this game was going to be a real challenge.

The Eels shuffled their pack, bringing on Raymond Kanyasa into the forwards, moving Will Bottone into Centre & putting Scott Chitty at Hooker.....it took a while to adjust, Skolars took full advantage running in two more tries.

Skolars 14 Eels 0

A huge swirling kick off from Archie Holding forced a knock on from the Skolars Full Back, giving the Eels an opportunity just before halftime.

This time it clicked, with Will Hammond taking a short inside pass from Findlay Gilmour at pace, crashing over the top of the Skolars defence to ground the ball & score.

HT. Skolars 14 Eels 4

At halftime the boys agreed that the first half had been poor & not up to our usual standards.

Despite the heat & fatigue that they knew would be an issue later in the game with no subs available, the boys made a commitment to come out firing second half, in an attempt to get a foothold in the game.

The boys didn’t disappoint, simplifying their game & completing their sets, the Skolars were immediately put under pressure, with the Eels pack of Frostick, Hammond, Raffle, Brindle & Kanyasa crashing up the ball, knocking over the Skolars lads like skittles.

Five metres out Nathan Raffle showed great footwork & strength to bust through the Skolars defence to score.

Skolars 14 Eels 8

That was the try the boys needed & you could sense their confidence growing, Rohann Bankole came in for a scoot breaking the Skolars line, before being hauled down on the halfway line, Chitty spun the ball out the back to Will Bottone who run a hardline to the Skolars 20m line, quick play ball saw Gilmour pass to Holding who had moved to the front of the diamond, the Eels put the ball through hands hitting Harry Crellin in the Centres who crashed over to score.......knock on when grounding called ..... No Try!

A huge moment in the game, but the Eels still looked strong, getting into an arm wrestle with the Skolars with both sides completing sets.....fifth & last Holding puts up the high bomb, Skolars Full Back tracks the ball well & takes the catch, as he does Ollie Woods after chasing 40 metres puts in one of the biggest shots of the day, hitting straight through the Skolars player knocking him onto his back.

The Skolars brought on more fresh legs & it done the trick, as their huge front rower broke a couple of tackles to crash over & score.

Skolars 20 Eels 8

Sitting in the dugout with just 5 minutes remaining, if I’m honest I thought the floodgates might open, as the Eels boys looked exhausted.....but the lads had other ideas holding out the Skolars, before working their way down field doing the hard yards.......Holding attacked the line, short pass to Frostick who was brought down just short, Holding barked the orders, the Eels put ball through hands, hitting Harry Crellin who was tackled just shot, before Marshall scooted from dummy half reaching out with one hand to ground the ball & score.

FT Skolars 20 Eels 12

Tries - Hammond, Raffle, Marshall

Conversions - Holding 0/3

Huge congratulations to everyone involved in this game, the courage shown to dig in that deep, with the sun burning down & play a full 70 minutes in such a fast paced & physical game was simply outstanding & heroic.

Time for a break now, enjoy your summer holidays, but don’t forget to put Saturday 29th September in your diary. That’s the date for the Brentwood Rugby League FC Awards Night at Old Brentwoods, where we’ll look back on another very successful year for the “Eels”

Finally congratulations to the London Skolars on becoming the 2018 U16s London Rugby League Champions.

Eels Team

1 Dylan Marshall
2 Rohann Bankole
3 Harry Crellin
4 Findlay Gilmour
5 Ollie Woods
6 Archie Holding
7 Scott Chitty
8 Ollie Frostick (c)
9 Ben Kennedy
10 Will Hammond
11 Nathan Raffle
12 Sam Brindle
13 Will Bottone
14 Raymond Kanyasa