The Emus had a big day on Saturday at Warwick winning all four grades for the first time this season.
The B grade Goondiwindi Emus regained the Pippos Cup after defeating the Warwick Water Rats 21 -17 at Risdon Park on Saturday.
In the annual clash, the Pippos Cup is played against Goondiwindi and Warwick and celebrates the contribution the Pippos family have made to rugby on the Downs.
Since Warwick have committed a B grade side to the competition, the weight fell heavily on the B Grade boys to retain the Cup, which they did with style, beating Warwick 21 - 17.
In a game that resembled semi-final pace the Emus were able to construct good phase play and implement the right decision at the right time.
Terry Glesson again directed the team around the park very intelligently with Mark Dezius and Alex Corlis creating multiple options for their fly-half.
The back row of Greg McNulty, Mark Jekyl and Andrew Newell complemented each other well, allowing for quick recycled ball and placing tremendous pressure on Warwick at the breakdown.
The front row of Jay Schulte, Tommy Coulton and Jason Campbell were tremendous at scrum time and never really let Warwick establish clean ball.
Rob Anderson and Lee Harwood competed well in the lineouts and worked hard around the field. Luke Fritz had another great game at scrum half and is leading the boys around the park with confidence.
The back three of Michael Goodman, Tim Cuthbert and Geoff Onus were very safe at the back, allowing Warwick to gain little field position in the difficult conditions.
3 points to Jason Campbell, 2 Points to Mark Jekyl and 1 Point to Andrew Newell.
The win elevates the Emus to equal third on the table one point arrears from the second- placed Dalby.
A grade
The A grade side have constructed eight wins straight as they entered the second round of the Risdon Cup.
In a danger game for Goondiwindi, the Emus eventually put away a much improving University 33-7.
In a mistake-riddled match that packed down 1000 scrums, the Emus never really found their momentum, only establishing the win in the final 10 minutes of play.
The first half saw a real contest with University constantly threatening the Emus line, but as displayed by the Emus in recent weeks their defence did not relinquish.
The Emus went to the break 12 – 0, knowing that the students had developed an array of confidence.
That confidence proved to pay dividends with the students running in the first try of the half and a sense of victory.
At 12 – 7 the students continually hammered the Emus line establishing 70percent of the field possession and 60percent ball possession.
The Emus absorbed this pressure and finally ground University down, running in three late tries to secure a hard fought win.
In the context of recent weeks, it was a great win for the Emus as University are a top four team.
With a victory over grand finalist Ranger the week before, University will be a team that will press for a semi-final berth this year.
James Tweedy had his best game of the year and was awarded the three points. Captain Trent Raymond lead by example and was everywhere, he picked up two points.
Rob Johnson playing at fly- half had an inspirational game and tackled himself to a standstill, was awarded one point.
C-Grade
After a disappointing loss last weekend, the C grade boys were pumped and ready for big game against Uni.
It was a shaky start by the Emus with Uni taking the early lead but with a great show of spirit and determination they never looked back after crossing the white line, taking the game into their own hands and winning 31-17.
A massive team effort as the team travelled to Warwick with only 17 C grade players.
Stand-out proformances from halfback Lachlan Elmes, Tom Brown and some big hit ups from Aldo who really took charge of the match and John Cranney was also strong in defence.
Dan McNaulty received the three points for the match with a big effort of three tries.
Coach Mick Maher thanked all C grade players and their supporters for making the trip to Warwick.
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