Waverley’s The Palace 1st Grade has breathed a massive sigh of relief after securing its first win of the 2010 campaign, narrowly beaten fellow cellar dwellers, Hornsby, 23 points to 21 in an otherwise disrupted Round 9 clash.

After three weeks of persistent rain, Waverley was one of the few clubs to get on the pitch, with over 90% of all Subbies fixtures cancelled courtesy of Friday’s bucketing. Surprisingly it turned out to be a fantastic day, with Oval #2 holding up very well, allowing some fantastic rugby to be played.

On Friday we said that this was a critical round for Waverley, if it was to avoid relegation to Division Three in 2011, and what a weekend it was, with all teams putting in some fantastic efforts to keep our Div Two aspirations very much alive.

In the end, Waves walked away with wins in 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 4th Grade and 5th Grade, a narrow loss in 3rd Grade, and a largely competitive match in Colts despite the loop sided score line.

This boosted Waverley’s lead over Hornsby in the Divisional Table to 606 points versus 359 points respectively. It also puts us within a few hundred points of some of the other clubs, and thus a chance to move up out of 9th in coming weeks.

For this to occur, Waverley needs to take the momentum gained in 1st Grade, and keep securing wins, especially over clubs like Briars, St Ives, UNSW and especially Newport this weekend.

Matches on This Weekend

Before we get stuck into the (brief) match reviews, you are reminded we are playing the washed out Round 7 clash against Newport this Saturday.

Thankfully the weather forecast looks good, meaning a Training will definitely be on Thursday, and a good chance we’ll be on Tuesday as well, with Saturday meant to be fine and sunny.

So make sure you get down to training (especially Thursday), so Waves can plot it’s course back up the competition tables.

Match Reviews

The Palace 1st Grade

In a man of the match performance, from both the referee and the Club, No. 6 Greg Quaid inspired Waverley’s The Palace 1st Grade to a hard fought and narrow first win over last placed Hornsby.

In recent weeks, especially last week against Oatley, Waverley has shown it has the ability to mix it up with the other clubs, if only it could get over its hurry to secure its first win of the season. Waves has now taken the medicine needed and will be looking to build in future weeks.

This weekends opponents, Newport, sitting in 7th place with 4 wins, is the perfect opportunity, especially with Waves playing at home.

Final Score: Waverley 23. Hornsby 21

Tries to Patrick Burke-Marcou, Josh Lose, & Kristian Parata

The Palace 2nd Grade

A bonus point 38 to 7 point win moves Waverley’s The Palace 2nd Grade to third in the Stockdale Cup, just three points behind 1st place St Ives.

Five tries were split between Stu McKay (2), Alex Laing, Tets Sakaguchi, & Jerome Wood, with four converted by Benny Farrow, in what was a convincing display by Waverley.

Coach Deon Smith would be pleased with Waverley’s form in recent weeks, with Waverley shaping up to be real finals contenders. Still it will be tough going for the Club, with six teams just separated by 7 points (and some clubs 1 game down courtesy of recent wet weather).

With Waves playing most of these over the coming rounds, Waverley must take itself very seriously if it does want to be number one in September.

3rd Grade

Waverley’s narrow 10 – 8 point loss to 5th place Hornsby in the Blunt Cup, shows that Waves is on the improve, and should be looking to pick up some more wins in coming weeks.

The 3rd Grade comp is fairly easily spread, and there is some chance, admittingly remote, for Waverley to move from it’s 10th place and secure an improbable finals berth. Rumour has it, that Coaches Collingridge and Wong are keeping a book on the matter.

Try to Kenny “Almost English” Brown.

Alexander Associates 4th Grade

Eight straight wins and 6 bonus points says it all really… Waverley having secured a 39 to 7 point win over 8th place Hornsby.

The most notable story from the day, was Waverley’s shocker with the boot, with Waverley’s ever reliable Nick Eder not able to master the blustery conditions. It wasn’t until Benny Farrow was brought on late in the match did Waverley finally convert two of its seven tries.

Final Score: Waverley 39 to Hornsby 7.

Tries to: Michael West (2), Anthony Collett, Jake Havebond, Shaun Simpson, Ben Farrow, and Matt Holani.

Cardsmart Colts

It was a disappointing round for Waverley’s Colts. After bouncing back from a forfeit the week before, Waverley put in a commendable effort to hold Hornsby in the tricky conditions.

Waves were looking good just prior to the break, only being two tries down, playing into a strong head wind. Unfortunately a temporary lapse saw Hornsby score two more tries in quick succession just before the half time whistle.

Unfortunately Waverley wasn’t able to recover after the break, eventually going down 38 points to nil.

You can check out the Photo Blog of the Colts game here.

JCB Communications and Aquila Plumbing Flying Fifths

Since its re-establishment in 2008, Waverley’s Flying Fifths have gone from strength to strength and remain one of the most desirable teams in the club to play for. Saturday was no different, with massive numbers turning out to play, which given the 9.30am kick-off was all the more remarkable.

Saturday also saw Waverley secure a great 22 to 5 point win over Convicts “#2”. Why the apostrophes? Well, courtesy of nearly every other game in Sydney being washed out, Waverley actually played a combo of both Convicts #2 (first half) and Convicts #1 in the 2nd half. Given Convicts #1 are currently undefeated, it was an impressive display by the boys.

Waverley’s Flying Fifths remain 3rd, 12 points off first placed Convicts #1. With Convicts about to head off O/S to play the Bingham Cup, there is a good chance of Waverley battling it out for 1st place against Colleagues in coming weeks.

NSW Farmers Women

Unfortunately the girls game got canned, so no match review.

Get Down to Training

Fingers crossed that the main oval dries out in enough time to get us training again on Tuesday.

Stay tuned for updates, but especially make sure you are there Thursday night.

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