Sea Eagles deal to the Eels

Tuesday 28: Top ranked league side the Avatiu Eels suffered a 24-10 drubbing at the hands of third placed Ngatangiia/Matavera Sea Eagles at the weekend.

Despite the loss, the second for the Eels this season, they remain at the top of the points table ahead of 2008 league champions the Tupapa Panthers by just two points.

The Eels will face the Panthers this week with the top spot on the table, minor premiership title and $1000 cash up for grabs for the winning team.

This match will be played on Saturday May 2 at Victoria Park in Tupapa.

The Panthers managed to escape the claws of the Arorangi Bears at the weekend, narrowly winning the match by just one point, 24-23.

The Bears are battling it out at the bottom of the table with the Titikaveka Bulldogs who gave away an easy win by default to the Aitutaki Sharks last week.

It was the second recorded win by default for the Sharks who are in fourth spot on the table and are hunting down the Sea Eagles in third.

The loss for the Bulldogs was a real shame as the reason for the team not making it to Aitutaki was not lack of funds but rather lack of communication between management and players.

This week the Sharks and the Bears will face off at Raemaru Park and this is sure to be a ripper of a game with the Bears rueing their one point loss to the more fancied Panthers while the Sharks should be a confident lot this week thanks to their best ranking yet in the local league competition.

They will want to give the Bears all they’ve got to give themselves a good spot in the play offs.

This match will be played on Friday at Raemaru Park while the Takuvaine Warriors will take on the Bears reserve and age grade teams.

In the premier reserve grade, the Bears won by default over the Tupapa Panthers while the Eels met a tough Sea Eagles side and only managed to sneak in an 8-0 win.

The Takuvaine Warriors won by just two points over the Titikaveka Bulldogs 20-18.

So get ready for the tenth and final round of league matches this weekend to be followed by the play offs next weekend.

The games to be at this week will be the match between the Aitutaki Sharks and Arorangi Bears on Friday May 1 at Raemaru Park and the minor premiership battle for $1000 between top of the table teams the Avatiu Eels and Tupapa Panthers.

This match will be played on Saturday May 2 at Victoria Park.

Bulldogs and Sea Eagles fans can catch their clubs match on Friday May 1 with the Bulldogs hosting the Sea Eagles. - Matariki Wilson