SHOALHAVEN Rugby Club was rewarded for braving the wet and wild weather on Saturday by recording their first win of the 2020 Illawarra Rugby season.
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At a soggy Rugby Park, Shoals ground out a tough 12-10 win against the Camden Rams - thanks to five-pointers from Aaron McDonnell and Blake Gurney.
Mark Brandon added one conversion in the win.
"The conditions limited us in what we could do - so we concentrated on playing a close game and get the ball down Camden's end," Shoalhaven skipper Steven Brandon said.
"By doing that, we made them regularly work the ball up from deep in their own territory."
Despite the win, Brandon wasn't entirely pleased with his team's performance.
"Although we got the four points in very gritty fashion, in my eyes we played very poorly," he said.
"We gave way too many penalties, which handed them way too much possession and territory."
At the end of the day, the two-point win moves Shoals onto 1-1 on the season.
"The win was massive for our season, especially as numerous other games didn't get on because of the wet," he said.
"We got some much-needed points in this shortened season."
Next up for Brandon's troops is a trip to Saunders Oval to face Tech Waratahs.
"Ahead of our next game, we need to work on our set plays and definitely our discipline," he said.
"We can't afford to continually give the opposition easy field position and put our defence under pressure."
Earlier in the day, Shoals defeated Camden 15-12 in second grade.
Elsewhere in first grade, Avondale smashed Tech Waratahs 36-nil and Campbelltown downed Shamrocks 28-nil (forfeit).
The Vikings and Kiama fixture was cancelled due to neither ground being playable.