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A second half blitz in which the East Campbelltown Eagles scored four unanswered tries helped them to a 40-12 win the Auburn Warriors on Sunday.
Fullback Ben Baker bagged a hat trick, with two of his tries coming in the second half demolition of Auburn before a healthy crowd at Waminda Oval.
The round five match was also annual life members and sponsors day so the win gave Eagles fans another reason to celebrate.
The Eagles, who won the Sydney Shield premiership last year, their first in the competition, were up against a monster pack from the visitors, who relentlessly attacked the Eagles line for the first 10 minutes of play.
But the Eagles defence withstood the barrage.
It was against the run of play when the Eagles finally got some possession and after Amanono Tovio weaved some individual magic to score out wide, Ben Baker converted and the Eagles were unexpectedly leading 6-0.
Their confidence boosted, the Eagles stepped up a gear and went close to scoring with only a professional foul stopping them from increasing their lead.
But an Auburn player was sin binned as a result and the Eagles took full advantage, running in two tries by winger Craig Moustakas and fullback Ben Baker. This pushed the score out to 16-0 just 10 minutes from half time, but the visitors hit straight back, crossing for two tries to make it 16-8.
When Auburn scored for the third time after the second half had turned into a bit of an arm wrestle to make the score 16-12, the alarm bells started ringing for the Eagles.
As it turned out that was the last time the Auburn side would score any points for the match.
The Eagles pounced and after Mason Talolua and Sean Connor scored four pointers, and Ben Baker bagged two more to give him a hat trick for the day, the Warriors were done and dusted, with the scoreboard showing the final scoreline of 40-12.
Eagles coach Richard Barnes said after the game: “Today I was so proud of the guys’ efforts – we came up against a huge Auburn pack and the boys defended brilliantly.
“We had great individual efforts from John Da Silva and a fantastic defensive effort from Ben Baker, who also scored three tries for us.
“We love playing at Waminda Oval and our club has only lost one game at home in the past six years,” Barnes said.
• This coming Sunday the Eagles travel to McCredie Park for their round six clash with the Guildford Owls, who have yet to record a win this season and are running second last on the ladder.
