Sydney Uni piled on 30 points in the second half to come home strongly to defeat the Sutherland Seahawks 36-0 in their round 5 clash on Saturday. 

The Lions welcomed back two of their favourite sons in the match - Greg Wernecke and Matt Croasdaile - and both set about reminding us just why we missed them. 

Wernecke slotted seamlessly back into a Lions defence which continues to earn rave reviews.  The defence gave up only 8 yards on the ground and allowed just 7 completions - with 2 of those being receiver screens for losses.  Ian Triganza, playing against his former team, and Leigh Louey-Gung lead the tackle count with 8, but there were strong contributions all over the field.  Nick Baldwin relished the start at inside linebacker and sparked the second-half onslaught with a 44 yard punt block return for a touchdown.  Wernecke had 4 tackles for loss and a fumble recovery, while James Bottom added passes batted down and tackles for loss to his blocked punt.  The defence was strong because every player played his part, and thoroughly deserved the shut-out. 

The Lions also welcomed back Matt Croasdaile from injury and he let out some of his pent up energy in 28 bustling carries for 227 yards.  The yardage total was the equal 7th highest in a game by a Lions running back and the largest in Croasdaile's career to date. 

Croasdaile got the Lions on the board on their second possession with a 1 yard plunge through the line.  Croasdaile's score had been set up by a  23 yard completion from Kiernan Dorney to Mathew Freeman down to the goalline.  Freeman had ended up in the endzone but was ruled to have stepped out at the 2 yard line. 

Dorney had answered Coach Dunne's call to step in at quarterback in the absence of Dan Kelen but was operating on limited preparation.  The Lions offence struggled to make all the new pieces fit in the first half but showed it was starting to find its feet with a well constructed drive to end the half.  Dorney lead the Lions on a 60 yard drive, mixing runs to Croasdaile with completions to Freeman, down to the goal line as time was expiring in the half.  But with only seconds left in the term, Croasdaile was held out from 2 yards and the Lions were unable to call a timeout before time expired. 

The pieces fell into place in the second half.  The defence sent the Seahawks three and out on their first possession and then James Bottom blocked the punt for Nick Baldwin to scoop up the fumble and take it 44 yards for a touchdown.  A Croasdaile 2 point run made the score 14-0.

The defence sent the Seahawks three and out again and Croasdaile busted out of a couple of tackles to take the second play of the drive 40 yards for a touchdown.  With the Erby PAT, the score was now 21-0. 

Another three strikes and out for the Seahawks on offence and a nifty 24 yard punt return from Tristan Cauhepe got the offence in position to land another blow - this time Liam Erby knocked over defenders and carried the ball in from 15 yards for the touchdown and a 28-0 lead. 

With the defence well in control and the score beyond the Seahawks' reach, Andrew Frawley took over at quarterback for the Lions.  The ground game was now overrunning the Seahawks defence, and Croasdaile motored the ball within a couple steps of the endzone only to see the ball jarred free.  The ball bounced into the endzone - where Freeman was about to recover it for a touchdown - when a Seahawks defender kicked the ball out of the endzone.  The result was a safety to the Lions and a 30-0 lead. 

On the possession which followed the kick after the safety, Croasdaile took the second play 27 yards for a touchdown - his third rushing touchdown on the night.  That touchdown finished the scoring at 36-0.