GROUP SEVEN
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Albion Park coach Shane Sainsbury feels his young side learned a valuable lesson in playing for 80 minutes from a 28-14 loss to Shellharbour last week, ahead of their match with Warilla on Sunday.
The young Eagles impressed by scoring three tries to one to lead the Sharks 14-6 at half-time only to be overwhelmed by a four-try attacking blitz from Shellharbour in the second half.
Sainsbury saw some encouraging signs from his side against Shellharbour that showed the Eagles are up to beating any side if they can earn their share of the football.
"We were pretty happy with the way the kids went," he said.
"There were a few young guys in there and they stood up against some pretty fancied opposition and I thought they went pretty well.
"We've got a mix, there's a few older guys there but the majority are young kids.
"We asked after the game 'who is in their first or second year of first grade?' and about 11 hands went up."
Sainsbury said his side would need to put a full 80-minute performance together to be any chance of beating fierce rivals Warilla at Centenary Field on Sunday.
"We did that against Port [Kembla] a few weeks ago. In the first half we competed really well and enthusiasm got us over the line," he said.
"We'll approach them the same way.
"We just need to dig that little bit deeper as the match goes on.
"It's something the young blokes will learn as they go through, that the game's not over until it's over and you need to push right through to the end."
The Eagles will be missing a few key personnel for the match but Sainsbury is confident they can get the win against the Gorillas.
"We're missing our halfback [Matt Carroll], Jack Middleton's out who is a big loss for us and we've got a few starting forwards out as well, but Warilla's always a bit more motivation for Albion Park.
"I'm very confident in the boys and whoever we put out there on the weekend will do the job for us."
Elsewhere in the competition, Milton-Ulladulla will be looking to bounce back from a heavy loss to Gerringong when they host Jamberoo at Bill Andriske Oval on Saturday, while last-start winners Berry and Kiama will face off at Berry Sporting Complex.