Hills flatten Maroondah

By Ben Hope
ENDEAVOUR Hills A Grade couldn’t have asked for a better start to their second division season after a 30-12 win over Maroondah at Frog Hollow Reserve on Saturday.
Coach Archie Kennedy said the result was a great start to the season but there was still some work to be done to get the team to where he wants it.
“We had good possession but we didn’t stick to the game plan as much as I wanted,” Kennedy said.
“There is always room for improvement and we will iron out any issues as the season goes on.”
Endeavour Hills dominated the first half and scored within minutes of kick-off after a spectacular 20-metre sprint by winger Galu Teo.
Facing the sun and running against the wind Maroondah struggled through the first half with difficulty holding on to the ball or bringing down the Hills’ backs.
It was only a few lucky handovers that kept the home team down to four tries before half time. Maroondah almost had a reply before the whistle but were frustratingly run out of touch metres from the line. A confident Hills team led 20-0 as it entered the second half and continued to keep the pressure on the visitors.
Galu Teo made another sprint up the length of the field with the Maroondah defenders unable to catch him until he was metres away from the line.
Unfortunately that was the end of the game for the winger and he came off with an ankle injury.
“Teo rolled his ankle quite badly,” Kennedy said.
“At this stage I’m not sure whether he will play this weekend, we will have to wait and see how he goes.”
The Hills didn’t have to wait long to find the line again with stocky hooker Setu Felise scoring his second try of the game.
It was a punt-kick over the Hills defence that finally let Maroondah into the game in the final quarter and its first try was easily converted.
Unfortunately the Hills weren’t so lucky and fly-half Petaia Salesulu struggled throughout the game to end the day 0 from six attempts.
“Peta will be doing a bit of work at training and once we identify the problem we will be able to work on it,” Kennedy said.
“At the moment his technique isn’t consistent; he’s got a good boot but his radar was a bit off on Saturday.”
In the final minutes both teams were looking tired but Maroondah hung in to sneak a last minute try through the Hills’ defenders.
Despite the rally from Maroondah, the game went to Endeavour Hills 30-12.
The win puts the Hills in third on the ladder behind Footscray and Geelong who also enjoyed first round wins.
In B Grade, Endeavour Hills lost to Eltham 36-43. The St Francis Xavier C Grade team were disappointed in their first game under the Hills banner, beaten 27-12 by Melbourne.
There was better news for the Colts with a win against Eltham 57-8.
Endeavour Hills A Grade will face Monash University this Saturday and Kennedy isn’t expecting his team to have too much trouble getting another win.
“I am expecting a similar game this weekend, if we stick to our plan it will be hard to stop us,” Kennedy said.