The 8th JRLA National Grand Finals lived up to its hyped expectations with a bruising and pulsating encounter between bitter rivals Vauxhall Vultures and Duhaney Park Red Sharks on Saturday.
After the dust settled, it was the Vauxhall players and coaches who celebrated a 30-16 victory over the men from Duhaney Park.
Tiege Jackson, Sandino Hastings, Robert Johnson, Everton Richards, Kemar Grey and Andrew Fong all scored tries for Vauxhall, Grey kicked 3 conversions and 1 penalty kick.
The first half was a tight affair with Vauxhall leading edging ahead 12-8 at the break. However, a high energy performance in the second half including back to back tries, in the 60th and 61st minute saw them run out comfortable winners. As Duhaney Park tried to make their trade mark late game rally, they were plagued by handling errors which saw them muff countless scoring opportunities.
Vauxhall is celebrating their 5th National Title from 6 appearances, while Duhaney Park is left to wonder about another disappointing finals showing, having now lost 6 of their 7 Finals appearance.
Director of Rugby Romeo Monteith had high praise for both teams and the overall standard of the National Competition, he said, “There was a lot of talent on display throughout our Championship, and these two teams were deserving finalists. Rugby League as a sport continues to draw massive fan and community interest so we are pleased with our progress. We have been going 5 seasons now without a major sponsor and we would love to have that change in 2013 so that these clubs and players can get even better”.