Shoals gained 50 metres on their kicks and after being held up over the line several times Shoals gained a scrum five metres out.

The forwards locked horns with the Engadine pack and came out well on top with a determined shove that ended in Harrison diving over for a well constructed try.

Shoals went to a 12-7 lead at the 30th minute.

This was to be their last score for a long time and the last time they would lead.

Engadine took control of the game from that point.

Shoals began to fall away as Engadine hunted as a pack and seemed to win the ball at every ruck and maul.

They were a far more cohesive unit than Shoals and began to run Shoals all around the park.

While Shoals had by far the stronger scrum they were severely outplayed in most other phases of the game.

Engadine controlled the ball from the line outs.

The few times Shoals won line out ball it came back to the half-back in a messy fashion.

Finally the pressure told and Engadine went in for two tries in the last 10 minutes of the half.

They took a 19-12 lead in at the break.

The home side came out firing in the second half.

The strengthening breeze at their back helped them play the majority of the game in Shoal’s half of the field.

Shoals became more and more disjointed and frittered and fumbled their way around the park.

They occasionally showed patches of brilliance but these were few and far between.

Engadine ran in two good tries in quick succession and careered away to a 31-12 lead on Shoals.

With just 10 minutes of the match remaining, Shoals roared back into action.

Gone was the hesitancy and looseness and they suddenly transformed into their traditional powerhouse play.

A quick ball was released to replacement winger, Steve Brandon, who showed every ounce of his abundant pace to fly over for a try near the posts.

Young Brandon was a stand out performer for Shoals during the afternoon as he scored run away tries in each of the three grades.

Shoals fought hard to try to gain the fourth try and some bonus points and although going close several times they could not quite get there.

As the fulltime bell rang they were mounting pressure on Engadine’s line.

Engadine was reasonably convincing winner of this hard fought game.

While Shoals play was at times disappointing to their supporters the game itself was a good showcase for rugby.

Best players for Shoals were Kyle Harrison who scrummaged powerfully all day, Steve Harrison and Chad Fraser.

The South Coast Register first grade side has a welcome bye next weekend as Bowral is only fielding a second grade side with third grade playing Bundanoon.

These games will be played at Shoalhaven Ricoh Rugby Park starting at 1.30pm.