JR HENDERSON SHIELD WINNERS: Sydney University
Photo: karenwatsonphotography.com.au

by Brendan Bradford –

Sydney University have taken home their second piece of silverware on Grand Final day after beating Warringah 31-8 in third grade at Concord Oval. The Minor Premiers scored early and never looked back in a three tries-to-one win just two hours after their fourth grade defeated Eastwood 20-8.

Long-serving back Dave Dillon was the star for the Students, scoring 16-points with the boot in a performance captain David Fong said was straight out of the Uni playbook.

“The weather Gods didn’t turn on the best conditions for us and Warringah really turned up in that first 20, but we knew if we could weather that early storm, our fitness would get us there in the end,” he told Rugby News.

Uni on the attack – Photo: karenwatsonphotography.com.au

“It was pretty physical but we only had one bloke in the squad who hadn’t played in a Grand Final so we knew we just had to keep the scoreboard ticking over and keep the heat on Warringah.”

Rats captain Haydn Black was left to rue a slow start against a well-oiled Uni machine.

“It was very tough and physical and they had some big boys coming around the corner in the wet and we had to work to get in their face,” he said.

“We gave them a head start with a few dropped balls and you just can’t do that against Uni. Our rule is don’t panic and always keep a smile on your face, so we didn’t get too serious. We just wanted to throw it around, have a go and play the way we have all year.”

The Students took a commanding lead with two Dave Dillon penalties and an unconverted Jack Sullivan try in the opening ten minutes before the Rats pegged one back with a Michael Edwards three-pointer.

Uni kept the pressure on through the first half and Dillon added another couple of points before a penalty try from a scrum on the buzzer gave the Students a 21-3 halftime advantage.

After a halftime rev-up, the Rats flew out of the gates and scored a well-worked try to flyhalf Michael Edwards for a 21-8 deficit with half an hour to play.

Sydney Uni couldn’t be denied though, and when the Rats were reduced to 14 men, a dominant scrum powered toward the line and earned another penalty try and an insurmountable 28-8 lead. Another long range Dillon penalty increased the lead to 23 points as tempers flared in the closing quarter.

The Rats could have added to their score in the closing minutes but a collection of handling errors turned a couple of promising runaways into frustrating missed opportunities.

Sydney University 31 (Penalty tries 2, Jack Sullivan tries; Dave Dillon 2 cons, 4 pens) defeated Warringah 8 (Michael Edwards try, pen)