Avondale Complete Perfect Season

Avondale Wombats delivered the final touches on the 2017 IDRU Builders Club Premiership with a 27 – 12 Grand Final victory over Vikings at WIN Stadium. In recording their twentieth win of their unbeaten season, the Wombats were powerful in a four tries to two win to put the final exclamation mark on a remarkable year for the club.

Despite having the better of the contest for a twenty minute period of the second half Vikings were never able to get themselves into a winning position in the face of the customary Wombats power game. Vikings defensive effort was outstanding as they battled gamely throughout the match under the pressure of the relentless Avondale attacking machine. As they have done all season Wombats star Fly-half, Silipa Tuigamala and skipper Andre Itula took full advantage of the superior performance of their forward pack featuring powerhouse prop Anthony Amone. The Wombats forward pack terrorised the Vikings defence as the Wombats put on three first half tries to go to the break with a commanding match defining19 – 0 lead.

Vikings outscored the new Premiers in the second term but the damage had been done by half time and despite playing short-handed with two players in the bin during the second stanza the Wombats came home strong with a barnstorming Anthony Amone try to seal the win right on full-time.

Fullback Jacob Kara opened the scoring in the decider in the tenth minute after Itula ran wide opening up a big gap in the Blueys defence for Kara to breeze through and score wide out. With the try converted by Tuigamala for a 7 – 0 lead, Wombats dominated field position for the next twenty minutes as the Blueys defence held firm under extreme pressure before Amone crossed for the first of his two tries with less than ten minutes to the break. Tuigamala added a clever converted try of his own after he combined with blind side winger Blake Spencer to cross in the shadows of halftime setting up a match winning margin of 19 – 0.