The Kiama Rugby Union Football Club (RUFC) went down 36-5 in the grand final on September 7 with a score that doesn’t accurately reflect the tightness of the two teams and the effort put in by Kiama.

The Kiama RUFC battled their way into the grand final after a nail biting win last week against Campbelltown and came out onto the park fired up.

It was a long time before the first try was scored at the Collegians Sports Stadium, and a lot of the early rugby was played near the Kiama tryline with their backline looking very dangerous.

Finally Shoalhaven struck first with a try off the back of a maul and then only a few moments later managed to score another one from a kick. They only converted one goal, which meant the score was 12-0 Shoalhaven’s way.

Right before halftime Kiama seemed destined to score as they were only inches away from the line, but a dropped ball meant they just couldn’t execute with some points. 

Unfortunately this is an accurate depiction of Kiama’s match - coming dangerously close to points but unable to execute.

After halftime, Kiama had to be the first to score and Cade-Michael Patrick managed to individually muscle his way through the Shoalhaven defence and over the line to make it 12-5.

Unfortunately after this all the tries went Shoalhaven’s way. Kiama gave themselves ample opportunity to get over the line again, but just couldn’t finish these opportunities with points.

The effort was definitely there for Kiama and they can be proud of a hugely successful season. Shoalhaven were the better team on the day, but next year Kiama will be looking to come back better than ever.