Avalanche of tries from Hills

By Stuart Teather
ENDEAVOUR Hills’ A-team had an outstanding introduction to the Victorian Rugby Union’s second division competition on Saturday, thumping Warrnambool 49-10 at Melton.
The Hills were booted out of the top flight Premier Division at the end of last season in a league reshuffle, despite being more than competitive in the 2008 season.
Warrnambool got the game off to a flying start with Reihana Heremia finding his way across the line, registering the first points of the match, but from there on it was all one-way traffic.
Endeavour Hills’ coach Jeff Lemalu put the slow start down to adjusting to the different level of play.
“We had a very slow start, the first 10 or 15 minutes it was a very frustrating game for the boys,” he said.
“We’re used to the Premier league, where the whole game is open from start to finish, but going back to second division – it’s a bit hard.”
After the first try, the Hills sparked to life and smashed through the Warrnambool line time and time again.
Endeavour Hills may have lost some of its top-flight players to Premier clubs in the off-season, but there were plenty of senior players on hand to ensure the side made a winning start.
Lemalu said the big contribution came from those in the forward pack.
“I think they played very well, with the lead of our skipper, Presley (Naea) and our senior players from last year, they lead from the front very well.”
In other results, Endeavour Hills’ B-team went down 22-18 in a tight battle with Melton.
The B team is yet to record a win in the opening two rounds of the season, but has been competitive in both battles.
This weekend the teams head to Geelong where the A-team will face Geelong, while the B team takes on Warrnambool.