Valley 8's

[Nfed]

The 2008 Valley 8's to be held at Harbord Park on Saturday has attracted Jim Beam Cup heavyweights, Sydney Bulls, Cabramatta and Belrose and Newcastle premiers, Lakes United. An international flavour will be provided by Fiji and the Cook Islands.

Field 1
9.30 Narraweena vs Berowra
9.55 Tugun vs Fiji
10.20 Lakes United vs Asquith
10.45 Narrabeen vs Coogee
11.10 Valley vs Avalon
11.35 Narraweena vs Tugun
12.00 Lakes United vs Harbord
12.25 Coogee vs Sydney Bulls
12.50 Valley vs Cabramatta
1.15 Narraweena vs Fiji
1.40 Asquith vs Harbord
2.05 Coogee vs Cook Islands

Field 2
9.30 Cromer vs Valley
9.55 Cabramatta vs Avalon
10.20 Harbord vs Belrose
10.45 Cook Islands vs Sydney Bulls
11.10 Cromer vs Cabramatta
11.35 Berowra vs Fiji
12.00 Asquith vs Belrose
12.25 Narrabeen vs Cook Islands
12.50 Cromer vs Avalon
1.15 Berowra vs Tugun
1.40 Lakes United vs Belrose
2.05 Narrabeen vs Sydney Bulls

2.30 Dash for Cash

2.40 Qusrter Finals
3.05 Quarter Finals
4.00 Semi Finals
4.45 Final

 

[Nfed]

Cabramatta and Belrose sent their A Grade sides, Fiji turned up with 8 players and Cromer forfeited all games, but some good football played. The qurterfinalists were:

Pool A - 1 Valley 2 Cabramatta
Pool B - 1 Berowra 2 Tugun
Pool C - 1 Harbord 2 Lakes United
Pool D - 1 Sydney Bulls 2 Cook Islands

Quarters
Valley beat Tugun
Cabra beat Berowra
Cook Islands beat Harbord
Bulls beat Lakes Utd

Semis
Cook Islands beat Cabra
Bulls beat Valley

Final
Cook Islands beat Bulls

The Bulls were disappointing in the final but you cant take anything way from the Cooks. The Bulls played the semi as if was the trophy game, beating Valley 22-0 with some classy tries, crunching defence and unbelievable try saving tackles from Brett Finn and Danny Barakat.

There were a few cat calls when Valley captain Jason Ferris was awarded player of the tournament.

 

[Nfed]

Cook Islanders' Cromer connection is good enough


26 February 2008



A STRONG local contingent powered the Cook Islands to a memorable title at the Valley 8s on Saturday at Harbord Park.
The squad, which included no less than seven Cromer Kingfishers, overcame a slow start to the tournament to win the final 22-10 over the Sydney Bulls, with big centre John Dean named man-of-the-match.
Led by captain Steve Berryman, who will skipper Cromer this season, the Cook Islanders overcame hot conditions and several more fancied rivals on the day. "It always feels good to win, but it was especially good for a lot of our guys to win the local derby," the one-time Sea Eagle said.
"It wasn't easy, everyone assumed Harbord or Valley United were going to win it because they had some really good players."
Cook Islands, who were beaten by the Bulls in the pool stages, regrouped to play their best football at the business end of the tournament.
"(The first game) was really fast and our handling wasn't that great," Berryman said. "We learned from that though - our inside players weren't pushing across.
"That's where they were getting us, but at the end of the day everyone got themselves in order and we rectified that problem."
These thoughts were echoed by coach Nate Ford.
"We were a bit flat in all three of the round games, but we lifted in the quarters and semis," the mentor said. "We definitely started off a bit slow, but we were starting to play more as a team. We were really hitting our straps by the final and peaked at the right time."
Ford believed that experience played a part in his team lifting for the big games. "We had played in the Wollongong and Cabramatta tournaments in the past month," he said.
"We got beat in the final at Cabramatta and then the semis at Wollongong - we were fatigued both times and let that get the better of us. But this time the boys knew they had to lift.
"And the Bulls dropped off, they'd had a big day, they had a lot tougher draw in the finals than we did."
Valley United's Jason Ferris was named player of the tournament after leading his squad to the semi-finals, where they were beaten 22-0 by Sydney.

Source: Manly Daily