Sydney Uni won a record sixth straight Gridiron NSW championship by defeating the West Sydney Pirates 38-34 in a thrilling Waratah Bowl played at Campbelltown Stadium on Saturday night.  

At 72 total points, the 2008 Waratah Bowl was the highest scoring championship game in the 25 year history of Gridiron NSW.  It was also the third Waratah Bowl in a row where the Lions faced an onside kick inside the last two minutes with a lead of only a converted touchdown or less.  But above all, it was a great game, with the Lions having to rise above a committed and inspired Pirates team to claim a place in Gridiron NSW history. 

The Lions were certainly ready to play.  The Pirates had caught out UTS with a long range touchdown off a reverse option pass on the first play in their play-off game and they tried the same trick against the Lions.  No dice.  Joe Lim hunted down the running back before he could even get the hand-off to the receiver on the reverse and took the play for a loss.   Anthony Sinton and Ian Triganza combined to drop the next play for a 7 yard loss and David Bourke pressured an incompletion on the third down pass to send the Pirates three and out on their opening drive.  The Lions had just the start they were looking for after the Pirates' punt barely made it into the Lions' half.   

Fullback Liam Erby got the offence rolling with a 20 yard reception out of the backfield and Dan Kelen hit Mathew Freeman for 15 yards on a slant to bring up first and goal.  When Matt Croasdaile powered into the endzone from 6 yards out, the Lions had the opening touchdown and the early advantage. 

The Pirates needed to answer back.  On the next drive, Quarterback David Ward looked to beat the Lions' pass rush with quick release timing patterns.  His receivers responded with precise patterns and great hands.  After chipping away underneath, a Pirate receiver held a tough, low catch over the middle for 17 yards to bring up first and goal on the 9.  Three plays for no yards later and it was fourth and decision time.  Going for the touchdown, Ward bought time scrambling to his right and threw a strike to wide receiver Todd Russell for the  score.  The Lions pressured the Pirates out of the PAT kick, but somehow the holder scrambled into the endzone for 2 points and a 8-7 Pirates' lead.  

The Lions were not behind for long.  The Pirates put the kick-off out of bounds to give up good starting field position.  Matt Croasdaile  then showed off what he had in store for the night, ripping off a 31 yard carry through the heart of the Pirates defence.  Croasdaile would end up with 211 yards for the game, surely a Waratah Bowl rushing record.  Tristan Cauhepe showed that the Lions' receivers could make the hard catch too - holding a pass over the middle despite being clocked by the Pirates' safety.  Freeman completed the 5 play drive with a 15 yard touchdown reception off a bootleg pass.  Kelen missed on a 2 point pass attempt to James Gifford in the back corner of the endzone to leave the score at 13-8. 

The Uni defence held the Pirates to only 20 yards on their next possession.  Veteran Fady Aoun and newcomer Ian Triganza built pressure with a run stop for no gain on a first down and Leigh Louey-Gung finished off the good work by tackling a third down screen pass for a 2 yard loss. 

Tristan Cauhepe opened the next drive with a scampering 25 yard reception, but the drive stalled when Croasdaile was held for no gain on 3rd and 4.  A well-weighted punt by Erby left the ball on the Pirates' 10 yard line. 

The defence sensed an opportunity.  Fady Aoun broke through the line to make a tackle for loss.  On the next play, Leigh Louey-Gung blitzed from the blind side to take down David Ward in the endzone for a safety and a 15-8 lead.  The play also gave the Lions the ball back after the ensuing free kick and they set about making full use of the chance.

Cauhepe burned his coverage for another big gain on the first play of the drive - this time for 38 yards down to the Pirates' 26 yard line.  From there, the varisty gave the Pirates a big dose of Croasdaile, the feature back carrying the ball on four straight plays for the Lions' third touchdown.  After Erby added the PAT, Sydney Uni had moved out to a 22-8 lead and looked to be taking control of the game.

But the Pirates had other ideas.  Ward started the next drive hitting 5 straight pass plays.  They were only short, but so long as Ward kept making them, the three step passes would keep the chains moving.  Two offside penalties against the Lions helped out and when Ward completed his sixth pass of the drive, the Pirates had picked up 1st and goal at the 5 yard line. 

Time for another stand.  The Lions defended three straight pass plays to again bring up fourth and go for it on the goal line.  But, again, Ward coolly found his receiver for a touchdown, this time Ivan Popovic on a slant pattern.  At 22-15, the Pirates were back to within seven points with only 46 seconds left in the half. 

However, the Lions were not done.  A good return by Thomas Frazer got the ball into Pirates' territory.  Running and passing plays to Erby and Freeman, combined with effective use of their timeouts, got the Lions down to the 12 yard line with time left for a couple of plays.  But the Pirates chased Kelen out of bounds for a loss and mopped up the shuttle pass on the last play of the half to see off the danger. 

With the Lions to receive the ball to start the second half, it was crucial for the Pirates to stop them from jumping straight out to a two touchdown lead.  But the big plays came up sooner than expected.  In their first set of downs, Coach Dunne called for the Lions to go for it on 4th and 3 on their own 37 yard line.  The Pirates played strong and stopped Croasdaile one yard short of the first down for a turnover.

But barely two plays later and the Lions defence had landed a counter-blow.  Nick Baldwin caught a Pirates' receiver square as he was trying to cross over the middle, the ball jarring loose and being recovered by the Lions. 

Again, the Lions offence was unable to pick up a first down, but this time punted the ball away.  Chady Aoun looked to have caused another fumble recovery for the Lions when he sacked David Ward on the first play of the next drive.  However, the officials called the play spearing and gave the ball back to the Pirates with 15 yards for good measure.  The call assumed even greater significance when just a few plays later Pirates' receiver Todd Russell outran the Lions' deep coverage to score a 28 yard touchdown on a perfectly judged throw from Ward to tie up the scores at 22-22. 

This is why you play football.  The Pirates had seized the momentum.  A shot at history was slipping away.  The Lions had to hit back. 

It started on the kick-off.  Tristan Cauhepe got his hands on his first kick-off of the night and sliced the return through the coverage, eventually being brought down on the Pirates' 30.  Two big runs to Croasdaile and the Lions were on the 4 yard line.  But the Pirates were not about to give up their hard won parity without a fight and drove the Lions back, bringing up a decision for Coach Dunne on 4th down.  The field goal unit was called on and Liam Erby calmly slotted the 28 yard kick to give the lead back to the Lions. 

Then the big break.  On the ensuing kick-off, the Pirates' returner failed to field the kick, the ball bouncing forward off his pads towards the on-rushing coverage team.  David Bourke and Harry Edwards won a desperate race to the ball to give the Lions a bonus possession on the half way line. 

Now the Lions' run game really stood tall.  Croasdaile ripped off a 21 yard gain on the first play of the drive and carried the ball on 6 straight carries down to the 7 yard line.  The offensive line of Ben Dodd, David Thode, David Allen, Piotr Milewski and Aaron Carbury, with David Kong and Andrew Matthews in relief, were working overtime as Coach Dunne kept the ball on the ground.  Once more it came down to a 4th and goal play.  This time the Lions went for it, Dan Kelen hitting Liam Erby out of the backfield for the touchdown and a 32-22 lead. 

The game was now into the fourth quarter and the stakes were high.  A Joe Lim sack on the next series forced the Pirates to punt without picking up a first down.  This gave the Lions the ball on their own 20 with a chance to chew up some clock.  Kelen just missed with a long bomb to Cauhepe, but the ground game continued to roll, Croasdaile driving the Lions over half-way.  A holding penalty eventually forced a punt, but the Lions must have thought they had bought some breathing space after kicking the ball to the Pirates' 18 yard line.

Wrong.  On the very next play, Ivan Popovic turned a short hitch pattern into a runaway 72 yard touchdown.  However, the PAT was missed to keep the Lions beyond the reach of a field goal at 32-28. 

With 6:01 left on the clock, there was no point in trying to just hang on for the win - the Lions had to grab it.  With the game on the line, Sydney Uni put the ball on the ground.  The championship drive covered 53 yards in 8 plays, all of them rushing plays.  The key play was a dive to Erby, which he turned into an 18 yard game-breaker by hurdling over a would-be tackler.  Croasdaile scored his third touchdown on a 2 yard run. 

There was now just 2:14 left, but time enough for the Pirates to engineer another scoring drive.  The Lions at least forced them to use eight plays and into yet another 4th and goal, but a wide-open Todd Russell held a touchdown pass over the middle to give the Pirates a glimmer at 38-34.

In the end it was a bit of a let down.  The Pirates' on-side kick went out of bounds and the Kelen took a knee.  But for the Lions there was no hiding the excitement - and relief - at winning the 2008 Gridiron NSW championship and Six of the Best.