JR Henderson Shield Final: Eastwood Win Gritty 3rd Grade Nail-Biter
by Brendan Bradford –
Eastwood have squared the ledger on Grand Final day with a nailbiting 23-22 defeat of Sydney University in Third Grade at Concord Oval. The thrilling finish sees Eastwood take the J.R. Henderson Shield back to T.G. Millner after Uni earned a convincing 31-10 victory in Fourth Grade earlier in the day.
It’s a piece of silverware Eastwood captain Tom Ellem didn’t want to let out of his grasp at the end of the game.
“This is my first Premiership,” he said afterwards.
“I played in Colts a few years ago and we lost to Uni, then in 2011 went down to Southern Districts in Second Grade, so there’s a couple of us who know the feeling of losing and I didn’t want to let that shield go.”
Fair enough too, the Woodies won it the hard way. Going into halftime trailing 17-6, two second half tries to winger Alex Del M