The Lions won through to their ninth straight Waratah Bowl with a clinical 42-8 win over the Seahawks in their playoff game at the St George Hockey Centre on Saturday evening.  

There was lightning in the sky at the start of the game - and on the field too.  The Lions put the Seahawks away early, racing to a 21-0 lead in the  first quarter to remove the danger of an upset on the game being called early due to dangerous conditions. 

Everything worked like clockwork for the Lions.  Thomas Frazer returned the opening kick-off to mid-field and Matt Croasdaile and the offensive line established the running game with a series of first downs.  Dan Kelen found Mathew Freeman open on a bootleg pass from 19 yards out, Freeman worked some magic to reach the ball inside the pylon and, just like that, the Lions had struck for a 7-0 lead.

The Lions were just as effective on their second drive.  After the defence had sent the Seahawks three and out, Uni regained the ball on its own 4 yard line.  Barely six plays later and the Lions were in the endzone again.  This time Tristan Cauhepe made the big play, running under a Kelen bomb for 46 yards to bring the Lions into range.  Mac Shine then one-handed a release pattern and milked his blocking for 15 yards down to the 1 yard line.  Matt Croasdaile scored on the next play through a gaping hole opened up by Aaron Carbury, David Kong and Liam Erby on the right side of the line.  Erby converted for a 14-0 lead. 

The Lions were just as effective on the other side of the ball.  On the first play of the Seahawks' next possession, outside linebacker Ian Triganza had such good containment on the sweep, the running back reversed his field looking for room in the opposite direction.  That only lead him into the arms of the Lions' backside pursuit, with Nick Baldwin ending his misery with a tackle for a 7 yard loss on the other side of the field.  When middle linebacker Joe Lim cleaned up the running back for no gain on another outside play with a colossal hit on third down, the Seahawks offence had again been sent from the field without picking up a first down.

The Lions took even fewer plays to score on their next drive.  On first down, Dan Kelen threw a touch pass over Freeman's outside shoulder which was good for 45 yards.  On the second play of the drive, Erby used a block from David Thode to get outside the Seahawks' defence and into the endzone from 14 yards.  With the PAT, the score moved to 21-0.   

The defence got into the spirit of the two play drive, Chady Aoun recovering a fumble after the Seahawks' running back had dropped a pitch from the quarterback.  But the Lions gave the ball right back.  A Kelen pass was tipped at the line and fell into the arms of a Seahawks' linebacker.  The Seahawks would have had 6 points too, but ill discipline on the interception return to the endzone saw the ball brought back to mid-field for a block in the back.  The interception off the tipped pass was Kelen's only blemish on the night.   He was otherwise pin-point accurate, completing 10 of 13 for 194 yards and 2 touchdowns. 

The defence made the Seahawks pay for their indiscretion, stopping Sutherland from picking up a first down. On fourth down, Chady Aoun and Kiernan Dorney sniffed out a fake punt - a direct snap to the up-back - and tackled the ball carrier for no gain to force a turnover at mid-field.  Completions to Thomas Frazer and Freeman got the Lions to within 21 yards of the endzone.  From there, Kelen hit Cauhepe on a slant pattern and Cauhepe did the rest, slicing clean through the secondary for a touchdown.  The score was 28-0 after the kick.  

Freeman showed the benefit of a fresh leg on the ensuing kick-off, booming the ball dead for one of three touchbacks on the night.  The Seahawks strung together their best drive of the half, moving the ball to mid-field, but good play from Triganza - first batting down a pass and then containing an end around run for a loss - saw the Seahawks having to punt.  The Lions running game flexed its muscle on the  next drive, every yard of the 65 yard drive being made on the ground.  Croasdaile carried most of the load and finished off the drive with a 12 yard touchdown run to put the Lions up 35-0. 

The Lions then had to fight to hold the Seahawks out just before half-time.  A 15 yard personal foul and a well-executed shuttle pass got the Seahawks into the red zone.  Freshman cornerback Andrea Canepa then made two big plays - first, smother covering his receiver on an attempted pass into the endzone and, then, coming up to tackle a crossing receiver to hold the play to a 3 yard gain.  On fourth and goal, Lions pressure - lead by Nick Baldwin - forced another incompletion and the defence had held its line. 

The second half was run with a fast clock, limiting the Lions to just two offensive possessions.  The Seahawks had the ball first and, with the aid of another personal foul penalty, moved the ball to the Lions' 20 yard line.  On first down, Anthony Sinton made a timely tackle for a loss on a sweep play and, on third and long and under pressure from middle linebacker Joe Lim, the Seahawks' quarterback threw up a pass to be intercepted by Mark Mamo coming up from his deep zone.    

The offence did not waste its turn with the ball.  Again, every yard of the drive was picked up on the ground, but this time Liam Erby was the feature back.  Erby carried the ball six times and barged in for a touchdown from 2 yards out to put the score out to 42-0.

The Lions were unable to hold the shut-out, conceding a touchdown on the final drive.  This time the Seahawks sprung the fake punt for a first down and connected on four consecutive passes for a touchdown and a 2 point play.  However, the consolation points did nothing to tarnish the lustre of the performance of the Lions - one which earned them a berth in the 2008 Waratah Bowl and a shot at history.  The Lions are going bowling.