Bears bashed by Eels at Swamp

The Ngatangiia Sea Eagles, Avatiu Eels and Takuvaine Warriors kicked off round two of the league season with convincing wins over their opponents on Saturday.

At the Swamp – tempers flared as the Eels dominated a normally bruising Bears pack to thrash their arch rivals 32-12.

The Eels meant business from the start, dotting down twice to lead 12-0 for most of the first half.

The Eels defence on the tryline was impressive as they held off a number of fierce Bears attacks to keep the visitors scoreless in the first 40 minutes.

The second half was a turbulent one for the Eels as the Bears hit back through big runner Danny Heather.

The Eels continued to extend their lead with well-executed tries including a brilliant final one by creative director Bobby Hansen after a well-timed pass from Matthew Pierre.

And the try came about with just 11 Eels players on the field after two players were sent off the field. The Bears just could not score when the Eels were missing a couple of players.

Bruce Goldsworthy and Joe Hoeflich were also on form for the Eels and helped the team in their 32-12 win over the Bears.

Winning the match meant a lot to the Eels who suffered at the hands of the Bears in their first round game.

In other games at the weekend the Ngatangiia Sea Eagles were destructive against the Panthers as they continue to maintain their impressive second place on the premier grade points table.

Big improvers this week were the Takuvaine Warriors who managed to edge out the Bulldogs 24-18 which would have seen plenty of revelry in the Happy Valley. The two sides fought out a 16-all draw in their first round encounter.