Old Collegians are early pacesetters in the 2025 Premier Grade competition following their 29-24 Anzac Memorial Match victory over Burnside.
Hosts Burnside outscored their visitors four tries to two but Old Colls were never headed by the reigning champions with flyhalf Carl Arnold (five penalty goals, two conversions) proving the difference.
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Arnold opened an early 9-0 buffer for Old Colls with penalty goals in the seventh, 11th and 23rd minutes before laying on a 50-22 to heap pressure onto the reigning champions.
The blue wall finally cracked after 28 minutes with Old Colls offloading strongly through the midfield and finding space for Arnold to put Chris Bartlett through a half-gap and over the chalk.
Trailing 16-0 following Arnold's conversion, Burnside desperately needed a score before oranges and found one through William Cardosa, who bashed his way over in the 37th minute following a strong Keanu Eliepa charge upfield.
However, it was Old Colls' who enjoyed the half's last laugh as Arnold punished Burnside's inability to exit with another late penalty goal, putting his side up 19-7 on the hooter.
Spurred by a healthy home crowd, Burnside roared back to life after the break with Cardosa bagging his second try from a lovely short-pass interplay that cut the margin to 19-12.
With the game delicately poised around the hour mark, a storming run from David Alo-Emile tipped the scales towards Old Colls with the visitors setting up camp deep inside Burnside's 22m and twisting the knife at set-piece.
It was only a matter of time before the blue wall cracked again with Hanno de Klerk eventually finding a loose shoulder and his side's second try, duly converted by Arnold for a 26-12 lead.
Yet there were further twists to come as a 50-22 from Keanu Eliepa saw momentum swing back towards Burnside and experienced playmaker Chris Hodgson, who split the defence for a 63rd minute try that pegged the margin back to just nine points.
Another poor kick-off receipt proved costly for Burnside with Arnold slotting his fifth penalty goal for a 29-17 buffer but the hosts weren't going down without a fight, pushing back upfield and scoring their fourth try via a Hasler Monda quick tap to ensure a grandstand finish.
In other Premier Grade results, six Linsday Adcock penalty goals anchored Woodville's 23-13 win over South Suburbs at AA Bailey Reserve while Dusty Loffler's 13-point haul ensured Onkaparinga banked full points from a 29-10 away victory over Adelaide University.
In the Premier Women's competition, Souths avenged last year's grand final loss with a 43-0 rout of Woodville as Onkaparinga and Burnside also banked bonus-point victories.
Meanwhile Souths, Brighton and Onkaparinga remain unbeaten in Reserve Grade and Barossa are Third Grade leaders after defeating Brighton Black 42-20.
