Eagles Maintain Good Form

AFTER beating London GD the previous week, Ruislip Eagles maintained their great form when they battled back from a half-time deficit to overcome Olympia 30-24.

Olympia were the only team to beat the Eagles the previous year, so Ruislip were eager to defend top spot in the table.

They made a slow start and Olympia led throughout the first half. They extended their lead to four goals on a number of occasions, but Ruislip managed to strike back thanks to Nguelo and Laperdrix.

The end of the first half saw us closing the gap thanks to Messis who scored four goals in a row and also goalkeeper Bauer who saved many shots at critical moments.

The second half started with better teamwork as Ruislip managed to pull level with their opponents just three minutes after the beginning and eventually taking the lead thanks to Cros who went on to score five goals in the second half.

The Eagles started to play with fluent movements and nice attacking tactics, allowing them to take a five-goal lead with 10 minutes left on the clock. However, a few attacking mistakes and fast-breaks from the opponents saw our advance being reduced to two goals with five minutes left and a man down for two-minute penalty.

Olympia decided to change their defence in order to put more pressure on our attacking scheme but as we had many fresh substitutes they managed to score even more and the goal difference went back to six. With a goal at the buzzer from our goalkeeper Rinkevicius, the final score was 30 - 24.

Their victory means Ruislip Eagles have qualified for the play-offs, but with two games left against London GD and Oxford University, they will want to maintain their good form and give themselves a head-start in the play-offs.

* In other matches in the Southern Section, London GD beat Cambridge 40-29, while Oxford University beat Bath University 35-27.