It was the local derby in the Sydney Shield premiership which had everything when East Campbelltown Eagles hosted cross town rivals Western Suburbs yesterday at Waminda Oval.
The home side prevailed 40-26 but not before a rollercoaster 80 minutes of football kept the fans on the edge of their seats all afternoon.
Eagles coach Richard Barnes captured it best when he said after the match: “It was a tough game played with plenty of emotion from both sides.
“The boys knew they were playing for the Ben Stevens Memorial Cup and the recent passing of Wayde Dunley, who played for both clubs, meant there was plenty of feeling during the 80 minutes.
“Well done to both clubs for giving the huge crowd such a great game,’’ Barnes said.
Not surprisingly, the opening 10 minutes was punctuated by penalties and kicking and handling errors.
Once things settled down somewhat, East Campbelltown took advantage of a repeat set to set up shop in Wests’ end.
Grant Lahey flew high above the pack to mark a cross field kick from Chris Standing and touch down to give the home side the lead after 13 minutes of play.
When the Eagles doubled down from the restart courtesy of a piggyback penalty, Fred Tevaga hit a gap off a hip ball and bulldozed his way over for a 12-0 lead.
Then both sides found themselves a man down after Magpie Daniel Petralia was sinbinned for dissent while Ben Baker served time for a professional foul.
The scoreboard attendant wasn’t troubled during the 12 a side period, but the return to a full complement finally spurred Wests out of first gear.
A line break from Charlton Schaafhausen ended with the ball in the hands of an unmarked Jerome Mose, who posted Wests’ first try just before half time.
The boys trundled off for the break with the Eagles 18-4 ahead on the scoreboard.
Wests received back to back penalties to help them get off to a good second half start.
They hit the front on the scoreboard after a high shot on Justin Frain went unpunished by the whistleblowers and Sam Aiga strolled over to score.
East Campbelltown hit back almost immediately as Wests put to ground a chance to extend their lead.
Another penalty propelled the home side downfield and Fusi Toutai did the rest.
Ben Baker backed up Amanono Tovio to blow the game out directly from the kick off after Tovio gathered an awkward bounce and burst through an over-committed Magpies line.
But Wests refused to go away and when Mason Farrell scored the third of his hat-trick it looked like they may yet cause an upset.
But East Campbelltown extended the margin in the 72nd minute and wrapped things up with a minute on the clock when John Da Silva forced his way over from dummy half.
