The scoreline suggests Woonona Shamrocks had little trouble downing the visiting University on Saturday.
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And while the 28-3 win was deserved, the Sharmrocks had to work extra hard in defence at times, especially in the second half of their Illawarra Rugby showdown at Ocean Park.
Much to the pleasure of Woonona coach Paul Ridgeway, the Shamrocks did just that, keeping their opponents tryless while scoring four of their own, to secure four bonus points.
"We won 28-3, scored four tries and got the bonus points, so it's a really pleasing result," he said.
"The win means we're now in third spot so that is another positive."
The injury-depleted Students actually took the lead through a penalty goal but it didn't take long for the home side to find their groove and respond.
In a 10 to 15 minute period midway through the first half the Shamrocks crossed for three tries to Ben Ridgeway, Harry Devine and Damien Clarke.
Devine also bagged another five-pointer in the second half, with Ridgeway converting four of the five tries.
"After we scored those three tries in the first half the game became really disjointed," Ridgeway said.
"There were quite a lot of penalties in the game which made it hard for both teams to have any continuity.
"It became quite a bit of a stop start game which had a significant impact on the flow of points.
"In the second half we defended incredibly well. At one point because of a yellow card we were a man down on our line and we just continued to defend out of that and we were able to score a try in the second half as well and keep them tryless.
"Not letting them score was really important for us, because they're actually a really good team.
"They play quite open expansive footy with a little bit of enterprise so we were really pleased with our defensive effort over the whole game."
Ridgeway added his team, which has won five and kost one game to date, was progressing well but had room for improvement.
"We are sitting in third place at the moment, so we are pretty happy with that," he said.
"We are a bit like everyone at the moment, there's some injuries and illness in the club which is impacting on our ability to have good continuity but we are continuing to grow.
"I guess once we get a few of those guys back that will strengthen things up, particularly our front and forward pack, where we are missing some of our bodies.
"I think we are tracking really well, if we just keep turning up and winning we will be in that final four.
"We just have to have our best squad together when we get to that point."
Meantime, Shoalhaven leads the Illawarra District Rugby Union first grade competition on 34 points after hammering Avondale 49-5. In other round seven results, Tech Waratahs beat Kiama 52-19, Bowral downed Vikings 32-19 and Campbelltown Harlequins beat Camden 31-29.
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
