U12 (2) played Box Hill (3) in a ferociously contested game with each side trading try for try. Box Hill went out to a 7 point lead early in the first half and Eltham replied 5 minutes later and then went on to post another 2 backline tries through Lincoln and Reuben for a half time lead of 17-12. The encounter then got very tight with Box Hill pushing deep into Eltham territory and finally being rewarded with a try after having one disallowed. The kick was unsuccessful and the scored remained 17 all. The last 10 minutes were a titanic struggle with neither side getting close to the line and the scoreline reflected a tough game with 17-17 the final score. As Eltham finished 2nd, they progress to the Grand Final and play Southern Districts on Sat 12th at Southern Districts (Eel Race Rd, Seaford) at 9.50am

The other 2 semi's featured the U16 and U18 teams and were very high calibre matches as you would expect from Eltham sides.

Our U16 boys have shown their potential all year but just haven't done it consistently enough for the full 60mins. This time against Harlequins, they showed that they were a real threat by keeping Quins scoreless in the first half and leading 5-0. Unfortunately, the second half had Quins finding the chalk and putting on 31 unanswered points. Coach Bully Shaw was full of praise for the efforts these boys have shown all year and especially in the Semi-final.

The U18 side has become very used to their opposition this year and have spent many hours in plotting the downfall of the Shepparton side in the semi-final, but alas, it was not to be on Saturday. The game was a high scoring affair with the final score 44-19 with a lot of attacking flair from the Eltham boys but unfortunately its hard to defend the line breaks with less than 15 players, so Shep will go through to meet Harlequins next Sat and Eltham will hope some of these U18 boys will go on to represent the club next year in the senior ranks.

REMINDERS:

ELTHAM U12 at Seaford THIS SATURDAY

End of Season function is Saturday 19th September and there is a club working bee on Sunday 13th September, so please come down and support your club.

Rgds, David Taylor - JC