Hills slam door on luckless Eltham

By Stuart Teather
THERE was a slaughter at Frog Hollow Reserve on Saturday as Endeavour Hills’ A team thumped Eltham 62-0 in their Victorian Rugby Union clash.
But the scoreboard did not do justice to the dominance of the Hills, who would have pushed 90 points had it not struggled to convert its tries.
The Hills was on top from the opening minute, regularly breaking through Eltham’s defence and scoring at ease.
The home side ultimately scored 12 tries, but had a rough time finishing its conversions, with Roli Fa’ Amausili recording the only two-pointer of the match.
Presley Naea ran through three tries, Harry Tanai two, and Matthew Paramore, Dom Taeleipu, Luke Buckton, Loni Folau, Lata Matiasi, Jeremy Nelson and Sue Masoe had one each.
Hills coach Jeff Lemalu said his side wanted to atone for its loss to ladder-leader Geelong the week before.
“We had a big chat after the Geelong game to try and figure out where we were going to go from there,” he said. “We were focused on a good start. I think all year we’ve started slow and made things harder for ourselves, but we had a good start (against Eltham). Physically we had them in the break, our pack was a bit bigger and fitter.”
Meanwhile, the Hills’ B team came out on top in a close battle against Powerhouse, also at Frog Hollow Reserve.
The B team has won two in a row and sits in sixth position, with Lemalu still eyeing a top-four finish for the team.
This Saturday the Hills host a double-header at Frog Hollow Reserve, with the A team taking on Melbourne University and the B team facing the undefeated Geelong.