RUGBY LEAGUE
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Jamberoo overcame the loss of their main metre-eaters to beat Albion Park-Oak Flats 44-24 on Saturday at Kevin Walsh Oval.
Concerned how his team would perform without its three main props, Jamberoo captain-coach Matt Coelho was pleasantly surprised by the result, which pushed the Superoos from seventh to fifth on the ladder.
"We had three front-rowers out, so we had to reshuffle our team and it worked really good," he said.
"We moved Mark Asquith to lock and me to five-eighth and it paid dividends. We had a very small forward pack but it was a very quick forward pack, sort of like how Gerringong play that quick style. I was very happy with how we played."
The home team signalled their intentions from the get-go, sprinting to an 18-0 lead after 17 minutes.
Albion Park cut the margin to 18-12, but the Roos hit back with a try on the back of a 40-20 kick and were up 22-12 at half-time.
It was all over bar the shouting when Jamberoo opened the second half with two tries in five minutes.
"It was a good step forward and hopefully we just keep improving," Coelho said. "We're up into fifth place, so making the finals is all up to us now. We just have to keep winning and take them one at a time."
Coelho wasn't worried about the Eagles posting 24 points.
"The tries they did score were a bit iffy. There was a one-on-one rake, one against the feed and another was a shepherd that didn't get called," he said.
"The defence was pretty good and the effort was there. We kept turning up and saving heaps of tries."
Eagles veteran Sean Jenkins wasn't able to celebrate his 200th first-grade game with a win, but he still marked the milestone occasion with a try in the dying moments.
Jamberoo meet Berry-Shoalhaven Heads this Saturday in a clash which could determine fifth spot.
"They're all big games this time of the year, but Berry at Berry is definitely a massive game," Coelho said.
Gerringong kept hold of third spot with a comfortable 34-6 home win over Kiama. The Knights have lost six straight.