By MARK CASHMAN

Beating Randwick at Coogee Oval at any time is a major achievement but Eastwood coach Ben Batger reckons they only got 50 percent of the job done on Saturday.

The Woods beat Randwick 43-41 in an epic encounter that saw the home side rattle home with two tries in the final minutes to close the gap but Batger mulled in the aftermath that his side would have to do better.

“To beat the No.1 team and a team that conceded only five points per game at their home ground was a big performance and one that will give us confidence heading into back end of year,” Batger said.

“Having said that I thought we only did 50 percent of the job.

“Our attack was really good and we controlled possession and territory and our forwards really put in some hard work which saw the backs get some opportunities with the ball in hand.

“Defensively though I thought we were quite poor as Randwick scored seven tries with limited possession.

“Granted a few of them might be deemed lucky but they have speed and are dangerous with time and space.”

The two teams went pretty much score for score for much of the first 50 minutes but tries to Mark Nawaqanitawase, Devan Stolz and emerging prop Willie Leoso saw the scoreline jump out to 43-29 and the result seemingly in the bag.

But tries to Dylan Pietsch, Tom Nowlan and Brooklyn Hardaker, a late call up to the Shute Shield side after Maurice Longbottom pulled out, tightened things up and gave us the final scoreline.

The win see the Woods jump to fifth on the competition ladder with a little over a month to the playoffs and things seemingly gelling.

Their young flyhalf Tane Edmed enjoyed his return to Coogee Oval after he ventured over to TG Millner Field in the off season with the log jam of talented No.10s at Randwick.

He showed some nice touches with the ball in hand and kicked intelligently out of hand while he converted five of his side’s six tries and finished things off with a penalty goal.

His freedom to express himself in space and with time on his hands would not be able to done without the hard running of the likes of Sione Tau, Tom Murphy and Pat Sio.

Tau in particular has been great for the Woods and has been showing all the toughness and edge that he developed from his time in the Top 14 in France for much of the past six or so years.

Randwick coach Ben McCormack said that at the end of the day the Wicks just weren’t clinical enough.

“We gave them way too many opportunities in good field position and a side with that many big talented ball carriers was always going to make us pay for that,” he said.

“Our game management has been a strength to this point and I’ve got no doubt we’ll bounce back but we definitely had an off day in that space.

“Still we managed to score seven tries to six and there were some ripper tries in there – but just didn’t do the little things well enough.”

Batger added: “Most coaches will tell you defence wins premierships and we have to be better there.

“That’s why I think Randwick will be there come finals times. They defended really well and their record shows they are a good defensive side.

“They will also get an injection of Super Rugby talent so will only get better.”

EASTWOOD 43 (Willie Leoso, Tom Murphy, Mark Nawaqanitawase 2, Devan Stolz, Chris Bell tries; Tane Edmed 5 conversions, pen goal) d RANDWICK 41 (Kyle Harris, Brooklyn Hardaker 2, Simon Kennewell, Dylan Pietsch 2, Thomas Nowlan tries; Dave Horwitz 3 conversions)