Hills fail to fire

By Justin Robertson
SLOW starts have been the fabric of the Endeavour Hills rugby team this year. In all, bar two games, the Hills have trailed at half time only to come from behind and win and finish strong. But in their round 13 match against Warrandyte on Saturday at Frog Hollows Reserve, being languid finally caught up with them.
It was a game the Hills were expected to win, considering they pummelled their opponents earlier in the season (36-5).
But trailing for the entire game, the Hills engine room never got going and some loose skills combined with not being able to finish saw the visitors escape with an upset win 19-13 at Frog Hollows Reserve.
Hills coach Archie Kennedy was content with the fact his side will make this year’s finals series but once again highlighted their lack of quick starts.
“They took their chances early and we didn’t,” he said. “I’m not too worried, we should finish in second place, and we’ll have a few players back for finals as well.”
The first half saw Warrandyte make the most of their opportunities with a 12-5 lead going into the main break.
Kennedy was quite composed during his half-time address considering his side was trailing by seven points.
“I’m used to us being behind at halftime. This is not new, we’ve been doing it all year,” he said. “I thought we’d come out in the second half and finish stronger, but this time it didn’t happen which was disappointing.”
Despite beating Warrandyte in the second half 8-7, the half-time deficit appeared to be to big to peg back as the players from both sides began to tire in the boggy marsh at Frog Hollows.
Kennedy is looking forward to taking on first-placed Footscray next week who have not lost a game this season.
“ In the last two games we’ve played them, we’ve actually been ahead with two minutes left on the clock, but they seem to just get the go ahead try in the final minutes, “he said. “We’ll look to settle our side next week and hope we can match them come finals.”