THE Gerringong Lions remain undefeated at the top of the Group Seven ladder after a 40-18 win over the Albion Park-Oak Flats Eagles at Michael Cronin Oval on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The win means the Lions are the competition's only remaining undefeated side and sit two points clear at the top of the table following Jamberoo's win over Nowra-Bomaderry.
For the Eagles, the loss was their second on the trot after opening the year with back-to-back wins.
In windy conditions, the Lions jumped out to a 24-nil lead before the Eagles pegged them back for a 24-12 scoreline at half-time.
The early lead proved too much for the Eagles to overcome, as the Lions cruised home in a stop-start second half.
It was a dream start for the home side when rookie centre Hamish Holland cut the Eagles' open on just the third tackle of the match, to then send pivot Tyran Wishart over.
Jake Taylor converted for 6-nil.
Just minutes later, the Lions were in again when a bomb from Rixon Russell was spilled by the Eagles and the Lions' halfback pounced on the ball and raced away.
Taylor added another conversion and the Lions led 12-nil.
Despite running into a heavy breeze, the Lions continued to find themselves on the Eagles' line and they continued to make the most of the opportunities.
Some second phase play instigated by Matt Winchester got the ball to Wishart and the young five-eighth showed plenty of strength to grab his second.
Taylor added another conversion and the Lions led 18-nil at drinks.
The break did little to slow the Lions and they were soon on the board again.
An offload from Kayne Brennan found a bustling Corey Mulhall and the lock forward powered over for Gerringong's fourth try and Taylor's conversion stretched the lead to 24-nil.
Just as looked like the Lions would take a commanding lead into the break, the Eagles mounted a resurgence.
Back-rower Nick King shrugged through the Gerringong defence and found Sam Clune in support, who then sent Kane Ball racing away to score.
Clune converted for 24-6.
The visitors wasted little time in grabbing their second when they cut the Lions open in the ensuing set.
Centre Blake Jones showed the Gerringong defence a clean pair of heels before sending winger Chad Harrison on a clean run to the line.
Clune knocked over the conversion for a 24-12 lead that would stand until the break.
With the breeze at their back in the second half, the Lions wasted little time as they pushed deep into Eagles' territory with their first set.
A bouncing pass near the line caught the Eagles' defence in two minds and Holland dived over out wide to push the lead to 28-12.
After seven tries in a little over 40 minutes, the scoring then well and truly dried, with both sides struggling to find any real momentum.
The game grew increasing physical too as frustrations mounted and after repeat sets on the Lions' line, the Eagles grabbed their third try.
Prop Rodney Coates crashed over next to the posts and Clune converted to bring the score to 28-18 with just over 15 to go.
That would be as close the Eagles would come, however, as the Lions ran in two late tries to douse any comeback.
Wishart kept up his strong performance when he came back against the grain and found a gap on the Eagle's left edge and grabbed his hat-trick.
Winchester then proved as present as ever near the line and the Gerringong fullback crashed over on the right fringe.
Taylor's fifth and sixth conversions rounded out the score at 40-18.
For the Lions, Wishart, Judd Collyer and Nathan Ford had strong games, while King, Clune and Jayden Harris were among the Eagles' best.
