2013 JR Henderson Shield Winners: Eastwood – Photo: seiserphotography.com

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 Moro gave Eastwood a six point lead with 20-minutes remaining, but the Students refused to lie down.

Eastwood captain Tom Ellem with the
JR Henderson Shield – Photo: seiserphotography.com

Dominating possession in the closing stages, Uni winger John Rudd dotted down in the left corner after a five meter scrum, but the conversion was waved away. Relying on the boot of flyhalf Ben James to get them out of trouble, Eastwood’s resolute defence eventually won the game by forcing a turnover on their 22 and kicking into touch.

“We kicked long in the second half to get us on the front foot and they made a mistake which we capitalised on, then our defence definitely won us the game,” said Eellem.

Spearheaded by a first half double to lock Harry Marples and a standout performance from halfback Jock Merriman, the Students dominated the scrum but ultimately went unrewarded against a disciplined and determined Eastwood side.

“I think their kicking game applied pressure throughout the whole game and they had kicking options either side and we didn’t work hard enough to get behind our men in our own half,” said dejected Uni captain Hugh Frazer.

The Students virtually camped inside Eastwood’s half for the last quarter, but points proved elusive after Rudd’s five pointer.

“We were looking to put pressure through our forwards at the end and win a penalty on the bell, but you can’t really practise those moments, you have to play it as it comes. We did enough to almost get there at the end but it’s a game of two halves I suppose.”

In a historic day for club rugby, Eastwood and Sydney University will play Grand Finals in all four grades, culminating in First Grade which kicks off at 3:10pm.