RUGBY UNION
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A rampant Avondale moved a step closer to the minor premiership after Saturday's 58-10 demolition of title holders Camden.
Despite the absence of four NSW Country reps for the grand final rematch, Camden coach Brendan Schoupp had expected his side to put up a strong fight on home turf.
But Avondale dominated almost every facet of the game, scoring the first of nine tries in the opening minute.
"I was pretty happy with the boys. We jumped out of the gate pretty quick and it was convincing the whole game," coach James Patrick said.
"We've been working on game plans all year, and this one really worked for us today.
"We had little things we wanted to work on and areas we wanted to target - the boys went out and did that really well right across the park.
"The forwards set a good platform. Our set phases were good and our scrums were good.
"A couple of little things we could work in with our lineout but we'll get onto that at training."
The Wombats are unbeaten and eight points clear of their nearest rivals.
But Patrick knows his side's regular-season dominance doesn't always translate to premierships.
"Avondale seem to do really good during the season and struggle at the end but we'll just keep working on that," he said.
"Obviously everybody thinks about what happens at the end of the season, but we'll just take every game as it comes and we seem to be heading in the right direction.
"We've created a club that's going really well. There's good depth and it's easy to pick a lot of back-up to come through."
The Rams's loss was their third of the season.
"They've got some key players out, but it's good to win up there because not too many teams come away from Camden with a win," Patrick said.
"We're going really well at the moment and I couldn't be happier."
The Wollongong Vikings scored a 26-23 home win over Woonona. The lead changed three times in the second half before the Blueys scored the final try just before full-time.
University scored a 44-24 away win over Kiama and Tech Waratahs beat Shoalhaven 46-20.