Tallon Smith
Albion Park-Oak Flats has bounced back from a run of two consecutive losses to book a place in its first grand final since 2012 with an 18-12 victory over the Shellharbour Stingrays in the preliminary final at the Kiama Showground on Saturday.
The Eagles crossed for four tries in a dominant first half display, with Dallas Harrison scoring twice following sublime lead-up work from halfback Drew Hutchison to open up an 18-0 lead.
However, the tide turned in the second half, with Stingrays hitting back through Isaac Morris and Tuma Te Koi to draw within six points, forcing the Eagles to hold on through a nerve-racking final 17 minutes to earn a berth in the big dance.
Albion Park-Oak Flats coach Josh White said while his side’s performance was far from a complete one, he was happy with the determination the side showed to hold on in a tough second half.
“It was a game of two halves, we started off really well and went out to an 18-0 lead at half time, and knew they were going to come at us in the second half,” he said.
“At the Kiama ground as everyone knows you’re going uphill heading north, so we were going uphill with the wind in our face and struggled to get out of trouble, but in the end we held on and it was a gritty performance for 80 minutes.”
Awaiting the Eagles in the grand final are the Kiama Knights, the side which they lost to twice in the space of a fortnight in the final competition round and the major semi final.
Heading into Saturday afternoon’s winner-takes-all showdown, White said he hopes his side can match it with the defending premiers from the opening whistle.
“They’re a good side, they’re the reigning premiers for a reason, and the last two times I don’t think we’ve started off too well, so hopefully we can start better this week and go with them for 80 minutes,” he said.
On the other hand, Kiama enters the grand final off a week’s rest and with confidence derived from two straight wins over the Eagles.
With the opportunity to defend their title, Knights captain Tom Angel said his side’s focus remains on playing its own game, though they will look to replicate some aspects of their recent victories over the minor premiers.
“We just need to focus on us, we’ve obviously laid ourselves a bit of a blueprint on how to beat them I guess, but that was just taking it game by game, and just doing our own homework week to week,” he said.
“We’ve just got to focus on ourselves and what we can do to play our best game, and I think that will put us in good stead come Saturday afternoon.”
Saturday’s grand final kicks off at 3pm at Centenary Field in Albion Park.
ALBION PARK-OAK FLATS 18 (Dallas Harrison 2, Leroy Murray, unknown tries; Jack Talbott goal) DEFEATED SHELLHARBOUR STINGRAYS 12 (Isaac Morris, Tuma Te Koi tries; Morris 2 goals) at Kiama Showground, Saturday September 19.
