East Campbelltown Eagles will begin the defence of their Sydney Shield rugby league crown this Sunday when they take on Belrose in the semi finals.
The clash of the two Eagles will be staged in the New Era Stadium, Cabramatta, with a scheduled 2pm kick off.
The reigning premiers finished sixth after their final home and away match while Belrose ended up a rung below in seventh.
It probably wasn’t the best preparation for finals footy, with East Campbelltown Eagles disposing of Auburn Warriors 68-6 on the weekend.
But you can only beat who is in front of you and the Eagles simply dominated Auburn from the get go.
In a relentless display, the Eagles ran in seven first half tries to seal the match after 40 minutes.
Ben Baker and Sean Connor scored two tries each and Cody Timoti, Shane Lalogafau and Mason Talolua each crossed for a four pointer.
Eagles super boot Ben Baker’s radar was humming as he converted seven from seven.
Auburn scored their only points of the match right on the stroke of half time.
Leading 42-6, Eagles eased their foot off the accelerator in the second stanza but still bagged another four tries courtesy of Ross Mati-Leifi, Guy Thompson, Chris Standing and Sean Connor.
Baker wasn’t so perfect in the second half, landing three out of the four to help the Eagles wrap up the 68-6 romp.
“We were happy to get through this game with no injuries,’’ said coach Richard Barnes after the match.
“Auburn is a physical side and I’m pleased with the win, we now take on Belrose which is going to be very tough,’’ Barnes said.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“Belrose are a great team and we will have to be on our game to knock them off next Sunday.’’[/social_quote]
Best for the Eagles were Mathew Darke, Sean Connor, Ben Baker and Mason Talolua.
♦ Three East Campbelltown Eagles junior teams have progressed through to the 2015 grand finals being played this weekend at Campbelltown Stadium:
Under 8s 2 will play Minto at 8am;
Under 9s 1 will play Minto at 12pm;
Under 10s 2 will play ESA at 2pm.
The Eagles Under 12 1 will play Macarthur Saints for a spot in the grand final to be played the following week.
