In what was a great day for the Club with 3 of its greats being recognised for their service to the Club - Woodruff, Clarke and Fleming - the senior side responded accordingly by starting off with a great first quarter controlling the game in all aspects. The back 6 were strong, led brilliantly by Biddlecombe and Noonan, whilst the midfield were in control with Shaw and Sapuppo rucking confidently. 3 goals to 1 was an appropriate reflection of the play for the first stanza - one of which was a ripper from Darvell.

From then, De La's running game got going and they were hard to combat. They controlled the midfield area of the ground and their forwards converted their opportunities. In contrast, whilst the Xavs were still winning plenty of ball, the results of this hard work were not making their way on to the scoreboard and at half time we went into the sheds with some work to do and 3 goals to peg back.

With some shuffling of the magnets the boys came out and were good but couldn't close the gap despite great goals from Noonan and Stean - we were still in touch though and had it all ahead of us to peg back 4 goals from the competition leaders in the last.

Skipper Ball asked for his mates to follow him into battle and that they did. With huge quarters from Colbert, Rogerson, Lynch, Biddlecombe, Ball, Dimattina, Prowse and Shaw - the boys willed themselves across the line with 6 goals to none in the last in what was one of the great home and away wins of all time for the Club.

The backline was resolute and attacking and all did their jobs. The forwards worked hard and capitalised when it mattered, especially Lachie Smith and Rush who stood up in the absence of Handley and C Smith. The midfield was tough and attacking and well led by skipper Ball and rucks Shaw and Sapuppo. Prowse's stellar season continued as he and Colbert ran rampant on the wings in the final stanza.

A huge win for the Club and leads us into another big game v Collegians next week where another 4 points at the top of the table is up for grabs.

See you there...