GRAND FINAL WRAP
The 16A's competition finally comes down to 50 minutes of rugby league between the two best sides in the comp.

Minor Premiers Cronulla caringbah haven't dropped a game this year and will surely have a different lineup come Sunday.

Cronulla Caringbah were clearly the top side through out 2009 and it must be hard for the boys to test them selves against good opposition.

De La Salle on the other hand are getting it together at the right end of the season and are the form side.

Engadine show the rest of the comp that Cronulla Caringbah can be beaten a couple weeks ago going down to the minor premiers 30 - 22.

The Dragons kept the pressure on in that game and at times had CC under the pump, and they did leak 22 competition points, the team that turns up to play for their teammates will win this grand final

In the 16B Grand final its the same story with De La taking on Cronulla Caringbah next door at Endeavour Fields, once again the junior league have put their foot in it, both u 16's games on at the same time, 9:00 AM SUNDAY MORNING

So the 2009 Grand Final is not in the record books yet, only 1 team can win and the better team on the day will

In other news it appears the Cronulla Junior League President and the Secretary do play favourites, last week with out consulting the junior league committee or anyone, Wayne Madden & Marie Withers gave one of the u19 team permission to play an ineligible player. Good luck to the Colts in chasing this up

Surely this must be the last straw for this pair, the clubs should be discussing options for 2010 and beyond.

De La Salle v Engadine rnd 15 (Photo : ourfootymedia) ACTION FOTO'S SOON

Cronulla Caringbah had no trouble dealing with the Menai Roosters, Cronulla Caringbah won easily something like 56 - 6.

In what should have been the match of the round at Captain Cook oval, second places De La played 3rd place Engadine.

The Dragons too to the field with 13 players, for once De La had a full bench and it was only in the last 10 minutes Engadine fell behind as they ran out of puff.

We all wish injured Dragons Harry Day & Brad Ring a soeedy recovery.

Gymea finished their 2009 season winning their match against the St. John's Bosco boys by 10 points

Both Gymea & Bosco teams should be very proud of their efforts this season, it must have been hard to the boys to turn up each week for a flogging, in truth both teams most probably have improved more than the other sides in the 16A's comp during the year. Well done to all at both clubs.

The “Black Cats” scored first with Tom Fry picking up a “raked” ball as Jeremy Saville barged over the line.

Shortly after Gymea piggy backed down the field on the back of the penalties and had it 6 - 6 after their very slippery No.7 beat the Black Cats defence out wide.

Jack Sommerville pulled off a great sideline conversion to bring it 6 - 6.

Gymea Gorillas came out strongly in the first half gaining possession from a string of penalties that blew out to about 10 – 1 against Cronulla Caringbah.

It was “game on” with good kicks from Sommerville and good passing from Kyle Albert.

The Black Cats were strong but just kept being penalised.

Some of the penalties were very line ball and it seemed like the ref simply had it in for us.

Michael Lichaa was on fire for the “Black Cats” directing play around the ruck and on this occasion pulled off a nice “show and go” to score the second try.10 - 6.

Gymea were on the Black Cats line again shortly after with more penalties assisting their field position and Cronulla Caringbah down one player after Tim Nagara was “sin binned” in another tough call.

The “Gorillas” were good though running with determination and purpose to get another try and converted again by Jack from out wide to lead 10-12 with about 10 mins on the clock.

It was tough hard footy from both teams but Rea Pittman showed some awesome speed and power by beating the Gorillas in a foot race to score out wide after a 50m burst down the field. 14 – 12 at half time.

The second half showed the maturity of Cronulla Caringbah team both on and off the field.

Firstly the players who kept their cool under pressure with numerous penalties against them and borderline decisions going against them.

On the side line Cronulla Caringbah supporters kept their cool after one of the Gymea Gorillas officials showed some really bad behaviour in front of a video camera and 100 dumbfounded adults and children.

Luckily cool heads prevailed and a tragedy was averted.

An official complaint was lodged with the ground manager. I think we all owe it to our kids ensure the highest standard of behaviour at our games.

But this didn’t detract from the footy as Cronulla Caringbah kicked into gear putting on some really strong tackles and turning on some “razzle dazzle” footy.

The ball swung left and right with Rea Pittman going in for another. Jack Byrne also bagged a try and really shone on the wing.

Jeremy Saville was strong all day and Nessi Mataitonga playing fantastically well at fullback supported well by Tokorau Raru, Clinton Strickland and Luke Brown.

Kyle Albert was carted into touch in a great tackle from the Black Cats No.4 Brad Anderson.

Unfortunately Kyle was injured and we wish him a speedy recovery.

It also good to see Sione Masimo back on the field. He was very good in both defence and attack and we look forward to seeing him fully fit soon.

Thanks to all players on both teams, the coaches, referees, linesman and spectators for a very long, very quiet one minute silence, in honour of Cruze Fischer’s whose Mum was tragically killed in a car accident in Auckland, NZ last weekend. A recent arrival at Cronulla Caringbah Cruze has been great.

Our thoughts and feelings are with this young man and his family.

This game was fantastic.

Bosco were great and Cronulla Caringbah struggled through illness and missing players to hold then back and scrape in a win.

With Cruze and his best friend Bronson away in NZ plus half the rest of the team with a serious “flu” the Black Cats were struggling.

Not to take away from Bosco who also had one of their best players Ryan Coleman out with the “flu” as well.

Bosco played a smart game, with tight sets of six finished with good kicks to gain field position and a good variety of plays around the ruck.

Jordan Shields who was playing fullback at first seemed to fit in well at half back later in the game and directed play with good skill.

I would like to see him take on the line more often as he is strong and fast and could make better use of a surprise “show and go”. Bosco forwards stepped up and their big guy Lee Mcintyre had them over the line in the first ten minutes for a Bosco lead of 4 - 0.

Not long after they were inches short of scoring again.

But the Black Cats were making some powerful hits and forced Bosco back up the field to finally pound their way over near the post in the shape of big Eronny Mareko. Nessie potted the conversion.

Shortly after, and against the run of play Joseph Drinkwater, who is still recovering from a knee injury managed to step and stampede his way through the forwards.

Gavin Beatty turned to chase but Jo was in under the posts. Converted by Mataitonga. One more try to Nessi out wide after some good backline movements put the halftime score to 16 - 4.

Bosco started the second half like the first with good plays and strong defence. The ref blew his whistle quite a few times and the teams were battling for field position.

“Chuppa’ Harrison demanded he scored when he just rammed the line after a penalty gave Bosco got the set of six in great field position. Gavin Beatty slotted a nice goal.

Jeremy Saville scored a well deserved try two out from the play the ball to push the score to 20 - 10.

Not long after the Black Cat’s Luke Brown flew onto a nice ball out wide, burst through the defence and scored a try to top off a man of the match performance for the Black Cats under the posts. Nessi converted 26 - 10.

But Bosco just kept on trying and No13 Tyson Albert, who was probably Bosco’s best on the day, hit the line on an angle and screamed in under the posts, Gavin converted and it was 26 - 16.

From that point on Bosco threatened a couple of times but Cronulla Caringbah hung tough to keep the same score. Tokerau Raru put a big hit on Nick Peppernel but got bounced by the nuggetty forward.

Bosco were great today and Cronulla Caringbah were good under the circumstances. Bosco showed strength and commitment with good backline movements, the Black Cats showed determination to win and work as a team.

Nesi Mataitonga had another good game (Photo : ourfooty media)

Cronulla Caringbah Black Cats continued their winning streak this week with a strong victory over Menai Rooster at Sutherland Oval 34 - 0.

Last week they absolutely put Gymea Gorillas to the sword 44 – 4 in atrocious conditions at Kurnell.

The weather wasn’t quite as bad as that game but a solid drenching about halfway through the first half ensured that the ball was fairly slippery.

The “Black Cats” opened the account fairly quickly on the back of a great dummy half run by Rea Pittman that ended right up near Menai’s line.

Some great backline “flat” passes saw Clinton Strickland over for his first of two tries.

Cronulla Caringbah continued to dominate around the ruck with strong hits by Eronny Mareko, Tokerau Raru(Toks)and Jeremy Saville who has been in great form throughout this season.

I haven’t seen a forward pack dominate like these guys for quite a few years. They are eager, determined, disciplined and hungry with power and skill to match.

The addition of Scott Sorenson to hooker has added even more strength to their defence.

Menai to their credit kept defending and put on some good hard tackles.

The Roosters got through the set of six and got the kick away, gaining field position and giving themselves a chance. Cronulla Caringbah’s defence was very strong and did manage to keep them scoreless.

Menai’s No 7, No1 and No 9 were very solid and were mentioned to me by both Noel Pittman and Joe Lichaa.

A great pass to Nessi Mataitonga saw him streak past the opposition and scored near the posts. Scott Sorenson also scored a great try off a fantastic flick pass from Nessi.

The first half ended at 18 - 0.

Second half was off to a roaring start with Rea again shoving and palming the opposition players out of the way as he ran up field.

Some good passing from Lichaa at halfback and the “Black Cats” were away. Michael Lichaa scored after a trademark darting run near the line but he made plenty of breaks during the game and despite being physically ill just before the game was one of the best on the field.

Guy Meagrossi showed some great form at fullback.

There was some great passing movements despite the conditions and in the end Rea Pittman, Eronny Mareko and Clinton Strickland added some more tries to bring the final score up to 34 - 0 with Nessi kicking 3 from 6 attempts.

De La Salle, Caringbah Under 16A's, getting better each week - LIFT YR HEAD RORY M8 (Photo : ourooty media)

Check out the Engadine kids behind the De La side - lol, he must be a Dragon (Photo : ourfooty media)

By some freak of nature, or bad organisation, there were 2 games on today where the sides haven't played each other yet, four teams that haven't played each other in a comp of 6 teams, WOW

Cronulla Caringbah travelled to Menai for their 1st 2009 encounter with the Roosters, Cronula Caringbah are a solid side and were too powerful for the home team.

Engadine and De La Salle hadn't played each other this year either, unforunately De La were the only ones to turn up to Anzac Oval to play footy today, De La have got their mojo Back and are on the improve and kept Engadine scoreless while adding 22 valuable points in terrible conditions.

A few of the Engadine boys tried, but not enough, too many of the De La boys wnated to play footy more, and it showed on the footy field and the scoreboard.

The Gorilla's travelled to Engadine as well this week for their round 10 clash with Chuppa less Bosco.

Fun after the abandoned Bosco v Engadine Dragons u16A's the boys go a slidin the rain (Photo : ourfooty media)

It was a slip sliding kind of a day today in the Shire with the littlest football players having the time of their lives in the mad.

Most games had kids from the under 6's all the way up to the u 16A's sliding in the mud after their games and there were some pretty mad slides too.. more soon - stay warm & dry

Cronulla Caringbah and the Gymea Gorilla's & De La v Menai were the only teams to get it on this week, with the and Bosco v Engadine games called off.

The competion leaders were too good for the Gorilla's, but they leaked a try against Gymea, so this just shows, a good plan and you can score against these boys and all teams really still in the race for the finals.

The Bosco v Engadine U 16A game was called off after only 5 minutes, the ref's called the game off stating the ground was 'unsafe for play'.

Which raises a few questions about what will happen about this game, will it be played again? will both teams be rewarded with a point each? is Mick fat, these are some of the questions we will find out the answers to next week.

Cronulla Caringbah Under 16A's warm up for their clash with the Dragons (Photo's : ourfooty media)

Cronulla Caringbah Under 16A's warm up for their clash with the Dragons (Photo's : ourfooty media)

Nesi Mataitonga warming up (Photo : ourfooty media)

I know Gus Gould loves Sunday afternoon footy, well I have to say Saturday afternoon isn’t bad either, especially today at Cronulla Caringbahs’ first home game for the year.

What a game, it had it all! Great plays, great tackles, a good audience and some controversial refereeing decisions to get the crowd involved.

Cronulla Caringbah came at the opposition like a 6 - 8ft southerly swell from the deep southern ocean, full of intent, with menace, power and strength and these weren’t just one wave sets, but 5 or 6 in a row, the sort of surf where everyone gets a wave. As long you were with “Black Cats”!

Engadine were lost in the tidal surge, caught inside by the sets, trying desperately to get a breath between poundings from Cronulla Caringbah.

They were literally held down by the power of the waves coming at them, pushed back and smashed against the rocks.

Engadine looks like the same team as last year. They still have the same bunch of enthusiastic, hard working players, the same bunch of overly enthusiastic and very vocal supporters, but they are playing like a team lost in the wilderness with no structure in both defence and attack.

Cronulla Caringbah on the other hand had it all going on. The forwards led the way with Luke Brown, Eronny Mareko, Tokerau Raru, Jeremy Saville, Bronson Howell, Tim Naraga, Kruse Fisher, Tom Fry, Clinton Strickland and Scott Sorenson leading the charge.

Clinton Strickland was the best player on the park for mine. His “ball and all’ tackles and speed running out wide were a pleasure to watch.

The forwards would hit it up the middle with power, making 10 – 15 yards with every run. then spread wide through Michael Lichaa out to the backs with Rea Pittman flying , or Nessi Mataitonga , Brad Anderson, Guy Meagrossi and Jack Bryne.

It was 10- 0 within ten minutes after Rea Pittman waltzed over for an easy try near the corner and Tokerau Raru got the ball wide and proved unstoppable as he powered across for a nice try. Followed by tries from Luke Brown and another from Rea Pittman to make it 20 – 0 at half time plus 2 conversions by Nessi.

The second half opened with a brilliant try from Cronulla Caringbah. It started with a “cut out” around the half way mark when Lichaa passed to Pittman.

Rea was crowded in by three Engadine defenders but somehow managed to kick the ball high and infield for a flying Nesi Mataitonga who got the perfect bounce and scored under the posts.

Engadine looked much better in the second half although they couldn’t get field position or points.

But they seemed to have a lot more direction after their half back, who I know only as “Cheeza” ( Jordan Dow) was unfortunately injured and taken from the field .

No criticism of “Cheeza’s” efforts, in fact he was one of the hardest working players on the field.

But once the Mathews Cup “first choice” half back Harry Day was brought back from fullback( where he did a good job) but only saw the ball when it was being carried towards him by a flying “Black Cats” player, Engadine seemed to have more direction and meaning in their attack with Harry directing play.

Michael Lichaa scored two tries and was absolutely rock solid in the role of half back, tackling well , and selecting to “dummy and run” at the right times.

My own son Joseph Drinkwater got his first game back after about 12 weeks on the side line following a serious knee injury in the Mathews Cup.

He added some extra venom to the attack and defence out wide for Cronulla Caringbah.

The Dragons utility forward Brett Denford seemed slightly frustrated all game, with a few drop balls and some over zealous tackles that saw him sidelined for a short while.

Denford was without doubt one of the standout forwards in the Mathews Cup, but didn’t enjoy the game today, despite a lot of hard effort. Luke Dodge was good as always, running the ball up hard and putting on some big hits.

Michael Morris “chip kick” was perfectly placed and Aaron Bennet was finally able to give the Engadine fans something to cheer about when he scored a great individual try in the corner.

But just to prove a point it was Cronulla Caringbah the “Black Cats” who scored the last try right on the bell when Clinton Stickland got the ball down after some fantastic passing and a combined team effort.

Nessi slotted the goal to put the cross on the “t”. 44 – 4 at full time.

This was a tough, hard game and despite the one-sided score line, that was very entertaining and enjoyable to watch where the crowd certainly got their moneys’ worth.

The referee was only small in stature but did a very good job overall, consulting the touch judges before making any decisions.

Cronulla Caringbah dished out a lesson to De La Salle today with equal doses of dominant forwards, smart plays, individual brilliance and great defence.

De La were without Nick Ratcliffe, Jackson Clarke and Reece Davidson who played a blinder in the State of Origin selection trials and is now in training with the Blues U/16 team in Melbourne.

It’s a great achievement and shows the caliber of players in the Cronulla Sutherland Junior Rugby League competition!

I haven’t seen Cronulla Caringbah click like this since last year’s grand final.

They literally smoked De La off the park with Eronny Mareko, Luke Brown and Tokerau Raru totally dominant in the forwards.

Luke Manahan and Gene Dubois looked tame compared to these guys.

For me Zac Wedersweiler was completely wasted out wide in the centre's although he played his guts out the whole game.

Cameron Paddy was stretchered off the field with a dislocated kneecap early in the game and only a day after he broke his school 800m record in athletics.

We wish him a speedy recovery.

Michael Lichaa and Jeremy Saville played brilliantly at half back and hooker respectively. With every week these guys are maturing into their role of ball distributor and play makers.

Clinton Strickland played second row but looked more like a lock busting the line and hitting the ball up.

He was unlucky not to score himself as he made a number of fantastic breaks.

His defence was also sensational - a man of the match performance.

Tommy McLellan played hard but couldn't really get into the gap today. David Pasquilino had the try line in front of him when the rain soaked ball dropped from his grasp.

Rory Hood showed fantastic form and was the one of the only really effective players for De La today.

He stepped and passed well even putting up a clever up and under that was snatched from the arms of big Zac by the ever alert Scott Sorenson.

Rory could easily be heading for a development squad position if he continues with such good form.

Cronulla Caringbah’s Nessi Mataitonga played fantastically hitting the ball with speed and great defence stopping the De La runners from scoring on a number of occasions. T

Towards the end of the game he literally burnt up the park receiving a great pass from Brad Anderson to run 90 metres and score.

At one stage it looked like De La may put on a comeback, but it wasn’t to be. Cronulla were just too strong all over the park. Nessi had the “golden boots” on kicking 6 from 7.

This week the big score did actually reflect a one sided but exciting game played with great strength and good sportsmanship.

We all know that De La are not going to take this defeat lying down and will be back better than ever next time.

Cronulla Caringbah set the bar high today and the challenge for them is whether or not they can keep it there.

Thanks should also go the Kurnell ground organisers and announcer who added some great comments through the day.

How's these gr8 shot of the boys playing in the rain - Engadine v Gymea U 16a's playing at Anzac Oval (Photo : ourfooty media)

Story & Photo's BY :

Well it was you guys playing in the rain today, and it looked like fun

Good efforts this week by the Gymea Gorilla's by defeating Engadine at home and to St. John's Bosco for a mighty effort against the Menai Roosters.

A bit of frustration during the game saw everyone involved, there should be some serious consequences from this.

Cronulla Caringbah find themselves in a familiar position on top of the ladder after bashing De La at home

Plenty of action fotos from the Dragons v Gorilla's u`16A's game later 2nite or tomz

anyone want to write a match report from any games? CONTACT US THANX BOYZ !

This was an interesting match despite the one sided score line. Cronulla Caringbah dominated the game but the first half was more notable for the strength of the Bosco defence then our attack.

Some players did do what they were suppose to especially Tom Fry who just “got on with the job” and ran strong and hard, defended well and did what forwards should do and put in a man of the match effort.

Michael Lichaa scored an amazing 5 tries with a lot of dodging , weaving and individual brilliance

Brad Anderson was fast out wide, Rea Pittman knocked over at least 4 players every time he ran and Nesi Mataitonga also played strongly. Tim Naraga and Bronson Howell played well in the middle and Scott Sorenson just played as hard as he could the whole game.

John Bosco’s Gavin Beatty, Chuppa Harrison and fullback Ryan Coleman put in men of the match performances.

Ryan literally threw himself at Rea Pittman, and took him down in full flight which as many would testify is not an easy task. He also tackled Tokoro Raru one of the larger Cronulla forwards to save a try.

He not only caught Nesi Mataitonga( no mean feat in itself ) but also proceeded to put him into touch. Unbelievable! Jordan Shields tried his best but had to leave the field suffering a really severe Asthma attack. Gavin was just tough and hard as well as playing really well at No. 7.

Chuppa was also great. Running hard and tackling like a champ.

The best part of the whole game for me was the sportsmanship shown after the game especially that of coach Joe Lichaa and Noel Pittman.

Joe congratulated Bosco on their effort. He told them that the sort of self belief they showed today was nothing short of incredible.

He went on to tell them to continue to work hard to believe in themselves and they will be a force in the “A”s and not to drop to the “B”s.

The whole Cronulla Caringbah team shook hands with the Bosco guys and gave them a huge round of applause.

I bumped into a few of the guys from Bosco later that night at Engadine Macas. They were absolutely stoked with what Joe had said to them and the way the Cronulla Caringbah guys had given them a big cheer.

They said they were going to give it a bash and stay in the “A”s. I hope so!

Dragons Skipper Mick Morris is dumped in a fine tackle Menai Roosters & Engadine Dragons Under 16A's (photo : ourfooty media)

The Roosters scored first and kept the Dragons scoreless up to half way through the second half, when the Dragons started to splutter some fire with a good try to Brayden Garrick, Brad Ring converted to level the scores.

After Johnny got 10 in the bin for smiling at the Ref, the Dragons scored again through Sharks Matthew's Cup forward Mick Morris, who had time to turn around for a bit of a glare at the oncoming Roosters defenders, before placing the ball under the dot to give his side the lead.

With only a few minutes to go, the Roosters were mostly in control of the game then Brad Ring slams a drop goal from 35 out on the fly, it was a great kick going straight as an arrow.

De La played De La in a game of Aussie Rules at Captain Cook oval, thats sounds like it was fun.

Who just watch Merlin, it looks good to hey - lol

A bit of hard work by the junior league has seen a few more games going ahead, now there are only 5 game that have been cancelled.

The Gwawley Oval BOSCO v GYMEA 16A game is on, only the de la v de la game is off

DUE TO REFEREE ISSUES THE FOLLOWING GAMES ARE CANCELLED
16B Engadine v Aquinas
16B Aquinas 2 v Gymea
16A De La Salle 1 v De La Salle 2

17B Bosco v De La Salle
17A Engadine v Aquinas

ourfootyteam had the wrong info a little while ago, we are sorry for any inconvienince caused to team managers, coaches or parents.

The Junior League plan to play these games in the wash out weekend of 6/7 June

Engadine, De La and Cronulla Caringbah all have had two competition points deducted from them.

De La actually lost their game and still lost 2 points, but they will no doubt appeal the decesion and the 2 points should be reinstated.

ENGADINE DRAGONS	58 - 0	DE LA SALLE (2)
TRIES : Michael Morris, Harry Day 3, Jake Brennan 2, Luke Dodge, Brad Ring, Andrew Montgomery, Luke Richmond GOALS : Brad Ring 4, Jordan Dow		TRIES : GOALS :
GR8 ACTioN FoTo'S SooN & oVeR THe NeXT FeW DaYS

Recently promoted De La Salle (2) faced a full strength Engadine Dragons today at Capt. Cook Oval and in stages looked good

Engadine just had too much firepower for the competition minows running in 12 tries to nil in this 58 - 0 thumping

Jack Steel was the stand out in defence for De La, the wirey little fella tackled anything and eveything that moved, De La didn't have much of the ball and when they did, they looked like they knew what they were doing.

Engadine jump to the top of this weeks ladder after the Menai Roosters held out De La Salle (1) to a 16 all draw out at Menai

The good news for the Dragons is that they play good roll on footy and are good enough to give the comp a good shake as the season progresses. The bad news is of gun forward Luke Dodge who went down in the last minute with a susspected broken ankle, it looked like it was hurting a bit there Dodgie, hurry up and get back into the action and we all wish you the best for a speedy return

The Roosters have a pretty good team and should be there about come finals time.