Sydney Uni raced to a 41-0 half-time lead in its Round 9 match against Sutherland, before the Seahawks forfeited the game at the start of the fourth quarter with the score standing at 55-6.  

The game started with the Lions picking up where they had left off against the Raiders.  The defence sent the Seahawks three and out on their first possession and the offence drove the field for a touchdown with their first use of the ball.  Calling the plays in the absence of Head Coach Stephen Dunne, Dan Kelen balanced running plays to Matt Croasdaile with completions to Tristan Cauhepe and Mathew Freeman - the pass to Freeman good for 29 yards to the 11 yard line - to get the Lions in range.  Kelen got close himself on a bootleg, but it was Croasdaile who carried the ball in from 3 yards for the opening score. 

The defence then embarked on a takeaway spree, forcing fumbles and picking off passes on three of the next four drives to hand the ball over to the offence with only a short field to the endzone.  Joe Lim got the ball rolling, sliding in from middle linebacker to recover a fumbled exchange between the Seahawks centre and quarterback to give the offence the ball on the Seahawks 34 yard line.  Kelen hit passes to Cauhepe and Erby before finding Freeman open on a slant pattern for a 5 yard touchdown on 3rd down.   The PAT was missed for a 13-0 lead.

Defence went one better on the next drive.  The Seahawks tried an end around on first down but ran into defensive tackle, Fady Aoun, at the exchange point.  Aoun disrupted the hand-off, the ball spilt into the backfield and outside linebacker, Ian Triganza, played it just right to dive on the ball at the Seahawks 4 yard line.  In the blink of an eye, Croasdaile was in the endzone and the score was 20-0.   

The defence sent the Seahawks three and out on the next drive, Greg Wernecke taking the first down running play for a loss and Leigh Louey-Gung batting down a deep pass to force the punt.  Three plays later, after a poor Seahawks punt, Croasdaile was in again, this time from 15 yards out on a well executed power counter over the right side behind the lead blocking of Mac Shine, David Thode and Ben Dodds.  

When David Bourke picked off the first play of the next drive and returned the interception - with at least two of his patented spin moves on the runback - to the Seahawks' 23 yard line, it was clear the Seahawks were in for a long night.  The offence was forced to convert from 4th and 7 on the drive - Liam Erby squeezing out 8 yards on the play - but would not be denied, Erby himself carrying the ball in from 4 yards and then converting the score for a 34-0 lead.   

The Lions were also seeing a much improved performance from their kick-off coverage team.  None of the Seahawks kick-off returns crossed the halfway line, with the average starting position being the 29 yard line.  While the entire unit deserves credit, special mention must be made of James Gifford and John Tamanivalu, who could not be stopped - even by a collision with the metal down marker pole - from recording 3 solo tackles on kick-off coverage.  

Twenty five yards worth of penalties saw the Seahawks cross into Lions territory for the first time in the game on their next series.  However, the defence shut down the drive and the Seahawks opted to punt the ball away with less than 30 seconds left in the half.  Despite finally forcing the Lions to go the long field and giving them only 20 seconds to play with, the Seahawks were still unable to stop the Lions from scoring.  Tristan Cauhepe showcased his great speed to run under a well thrown long ball from Dan Kelen and then run away from the pursuit for a 52 yard touchdown.  Erby's PAT finished the scoring for the half at 41-0. 

The Lions were not slowed down by the halftime break.  Returning the kick-off to halfway, the offence took just 5 plays to drive the ball in for a touchdown.  Mac Shine picked up 13 yards on a fullback dive and then Kelen found Cauhepe in a seam for a 17 yard touchdown pass.  Kelen would finish with 12 completions from 14 attempts for 182 yards with 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.  Clearly he enjoyed calling his own plays. 

After the next kick-off there was a wild sequence of three straight turnovers.  First, Joe Lim claimed his second fumble recovery, winning a wrestle for the ball at the line of scrimmage.  Then Matt Croasdaile lost the ball while spinning on his way down in the tackle.  Only an inadvertent whistle prevented an alert Seahawks defender from running the fumble in for a touchdown.  The next play saw the Seahawks throwing deep but being picked off by Anthony Sinton who, with the aid of a personal foul penalty, returned the ball to the Seahawks 7 yard line.  Sinton had shown veteran cunning on the play to tempt the Seahawks quarterback into a lofted pass, which he gratefully accepted for his 20th recorded career interception.  Kelen and Freeman worked a nice fade pattern on first down for a touchdown in the corner and a 55-0 lead. 

The referees were now running a fast clock and the Lions were rushing to give their full squad game time.  Huw Grenfell and Jamie Owers saw valuable action in the secondary on the next drive as the Seahawks moved the ball.  Grenfell had blanketed his receiver when the Seahawks quarterback tried to pass to him in the endzone from the 6 yard line, while Owers was in good position to pressure the catch and make the tackle when his receiver ran a hook pattern in front of him.  Nevertheless, the Seahawks managed to piece together a drive and scored on a short pass to a running back out of the backfield.   

Lions freshman running back, Harry Edwards, got his first career carry on the next series, but the Seahawks called it a night when they were no longer able to field an experienced centre as the fourth quarter started.

The win continued an impressive run for the Lions offence.  The unit did not have to rack up big yardage to score, but it moved the ball with deadly efficiency.  For the second game in a row, the punting unit did not take to the field. 

The defence was just as impressive.  The Lions forced 6 turnovers on the night and on two occasions gave the offence starting field position inside the Seahawks' 10 yard line.  The Sutherland quarterback did not complete a pass of over 10 yards and the Seahawks were taken for a loss of 16 yards on the ground. 

Just as pleasing was the blanket coverage provided by the kick-off coverage unit.  With the play-offs just around the corner, it is vital for the special teams units to play to the same high standard set by the rest of the team.