Endeavour Hills player Aaron Skipworth contests the lineout against Monash University in the first match of the season at Frog Hollow Reserve on Saturday.By Marc McGowan
ONLY one of Endeavour Hills’ two senior teams took to the field in the opening of the Victorian Rugby Union second division season at Frog Hollow Reserve on Saturday.
The Hills has two teams in second division this year after VRU officials chose not to include the club in the newly structured premier competition.
Endeavour Hills expected to host a double-header at home on the weekend, but a comical scheduling mix-up saw the club’s top team win by forfeit.
One of the players from the Hills’ first-round opponent Melton had his wedding on the same day and several of his team-mates were on the guest list.
This left the visitors with too few players to field a team, but the two clubs still played a scratch match, with Endeavour Hills’ reserves making up Melton’s numbers.
The Hills ran in multiple tries and kept Melton scoreless.
Endeavour Hills’ second side did play for competition points, but lost 27-10 to local rival Monash University.
The Hills started well, but ongoing problems in its scrum and a strong Monash backline kept the score in the students’ favour.
Aaron Skipworth injured his knee in the match.
Endeavour Hills president Ashley White was pleased with the season-opening hit-outs and is confident the club’s top team will contend for the title.
“We’d be pretty disappointed if we don’t win the finals, but that would be more from a lack of commitment on our own part,” he said.
“That’s not saying there won’t be some tough games to be played and we don’t expect they’ll all be easy games by any means.
“But our guys were performing very well at the end of last season (in Premier One) and have started out well already and I expect that to continue.”
Star players Tim Finau, Setu Felise, Michael Tupai and Jason Smith left the Hills in the off-season to join premier division clubs, but White is ‘pleasantly surprised’ with the number of returnees.
“We’re still able to field two full sides on the paddock and we’ve picked up some new players,” he said.
“We’ve also had some players who’d left us in previous years come back.”
There is a bye this weekend due to Anzac Day, but the two Endeavour Hills sides return to the field on 2 May as part of a double-header at Melton’s McPherson Park Recreation Reserve.
Hills ‘B’ meets Melton at 1.30pm before Endeavour Hills ‘A’ faces Warrnambool at 3pm.
Maroondah, Geelong, Eltham and Power House are the other teams in the nine-side second division.
The club will also field five junior squads in 2009 and that competition begins on 2 May.
