Sydney Uni American Football Club

The Cubs claimed the minor premiership with a 42-6 win over the Brumbies at Bulli High School and will play the Titans this Friday at the Square for a place in the Championship Game.

The Cubs had the win wrapped up by half time after a strong showing from Hugh Tomkins at fullback and the defensive secondary of Chevy Abraham-Jacob, Vlad Matovic, Stanley Chin and Justin Chow.  Tomkins ran in three long range touchdowns in the first half, simply having too much pace for the Brumbies’ defence.  Quarterback Sam Darcy and wingback Harry Granger also ran in touchdowns in the first half behind an offensive line of Oscar Heidrich, Alex Panebianco and Kendall Generoso, which cleared the way on the ground.  Granger was returning for his first game back after a hand injury and was straight back into the groove.

On defence, the lineman of Daniel Pearson, Jack Danielson and Sergen Isik and the linebacking corps of Cameron Prentice, Hau Neo and Andrew Shattuck quickly established control of the line of scrimmage.  Prentice topped the tackle count for the game, with Shattuck not far behind, but it was a total team effort which shut down the Brumbies’ ground game.  With nowhere else to go, the Brumbies put the ball in the air, but the Cubs’ secondary responded with their best showing of the season.  The Cubs’ defensive backs were in position to quickly tackle the receivers after any short completions and to attack the ball on longer pass plays.  Vlad Matovic made a crucial pass break-up on a ball thrown into the endzone and pursued hard from the opposite side of the field to make a touchdown-saving tackle after a receiver threatened to go the distance.  All of the secondary broke up passes, while Justin Chow held an interception coming up from a deep safety position to defuse a late Brumbies drive.

In the second half, the offence brought in some special guest stars to have a run in the backfield.  Chevy Abraham-Jacob and Oscar Heidrich impressed in their cameo performances while for others it was a case of “don’t give up your day job”.  However, the most impressive performances in the second half were from quarterback Krishan Dass and receiver Massi Omari, who teamed up for some well executed pass plays, including a two point conversion after wingback Max Granger had run in a touchdown.  Unfortunately, Omari went down injured late in the game to spoil a good day for the receiver.  The defence conceded a touchdown at the death after the offence had fumbled the ball away but, all in all, the Cubs had put on a strong showing to wrap up the first seeding in the playoffs.

The Cubs now meet the Titans in the playoffs, with the winner to move straight into the Championship Game.  The game will be played at the Square, Science Road, Sydney Uni, at 8.30pm this Friday, with family, friends and supporters invited to join the team at the Camperdown Hotel, 138 Parramatta Rd, Camperdown (5 mins from the Square) after the game for a Homecoming celebration.