29-24 to Cranbrook over St Pats in Friday Night Lights.
St Pats scored inside the first two minutes, after which the teams traded tries and it was 19-17 to St Pats at half time. St Pats scored first in the second half to lead 24-17 but Cranbrook stormed home with two tries in quick succession, then held off a late raid. The referee blew time when the ground clock showed nearly three minutes to go but he is, of course, the sole judge of time.
Odd game. Cranbrook had a massive size advantage in the forwards, to the point that when St Pats brought on a substitute scrum half in the second half, he was bigger than all but one of his forwards. It took Cranbrook a while to work out how to use it, but eventually they figured out that hard running in the forwards was a good way to make ground. St Pats were just outgunned in the forwards but had two good backs (10 and 13) and one exceptional one (15), who kept them in the contest. Best for Cranbrook were 1, 5, 8, 13 and 15. 1 and 8 ran hard, while 5 was good around the park and made a spectacular try-saving tackle on the St Pats 13. Cranbrook's 13 ran hard and straight and scored the matchwinning try. No programs that I saw so I can't help with names.
Small gripe: Cranbrook wore navy, St Pats black, and under the so-so lights at Easts, it wasn't always easy to tell who was who. Big attendance, despite the wet.