HASTINGS Valley Vikings sent yet another strong message to the rest of the competition during Saturday’s 48-0 shutout of Grafton.
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Tries to Andrew West, Bryce Claef, Sam Flanagan and Lyndon Gale contributed to the comfortable win.
They’re going to be difficult to beat for the premiership in 2016 with around a month remaining before the finals.
Most impressively for coach Mark Howard is that his side still has plenty of room for improvement and they’re still not at full-strength.
It’s quite a scary thought.
The Vikings fumbled their way through the first half, although it was a game they didn’t appear to be in too much trouble.
The visitors could barely get out of their own half.
“We played a bit of panic football in the first half and thought we had to score off every play,” Howard said.
“Then we went back to doing the hard work up the middle in the second half and the points started to flow.”
Howard was happy there wasn’t a let-down after their tough win over Pirates.
“We spoke about that and didn’t want to drop off on last week,” he said.
Evergreen fullback Greg Lawrence had a solid game at the back.
“I used to play with him 15 years ago and he’s still playing like he did back then,” Howard said.
“He’s a consistent, timeless performer who brings a lot of confidence to the boys every game because they know what they’re going to get.
“He makes very few mistakes and more often than not makes the right decision in defence.”
With the Vikings to play just three more games before the finals, Howard will have a selection headache in coming weeks with players returning from injury and representative duty.
“It’s probably a double-edged sword having those blokes to come back because some of the guys might just expect them to make things happen,” he said.
“But we’re where we need to be.”
The coach said performances from Chris Johnson and Tom Woods also provided more positives.
Captain Andrew West suffered a scare during the game when he was taken to hospital after feeling pins and needles down his arm after a suspect tackle.
He has since been discharged.
Earlier in the day, the Vikings notched up another win and ensured Grafton went back up the highway with nothing to show for their trip to Oxley Oval.
Reserve grade were too good in a 19-0 win.
“That was a good win for them and sets them up for the rest of the season,” Howard said.
First grade has a well-earned break next weekend.