EDFL: Benjamin Said and Jacob Chahine lead Rupertswood to Division 1 win

Rupertswood is on the board in 2022 after a new forward pairing booted nine goals between them as coach Arron Bray tipped them for further improvement.

There’s a new dynamic duo in town at Rupertswood.

Ben Said (five goals) and Jacob Chahine (four) combined for nine majors as the Sharks overturned a four-goal three-quarter-time deficit to secure their first EDFL Division 1 win of the season 14.10 (94) to 13.9 (87) over Roxburgh Park.

Said arrived at the club after previous stints in the Riddell District and Western Region leagues where he had earned interleague honours.

Meanwhile Chahine is a young forward on the rise who is starting to “make his mark on senior footy” according to Sharks coach Arron Bray.

The pair were named the best players on the ground in the seven-point win.

“Ben and Jacob are becoming quite the pair,” Bray said.

“Ben has come in and really taken him under his wing which has been great to see. Ben has a great goal sense himself and is someone who is hard to match up despite being a small forward — he always seems to be in the right position.

“The more they play together, the better I think they’re going to get which is really exciting for our team.”

At the other end of the ground, Jordan Tentonello was impressive in defence in tricky conditions with the breeze favouring one end of the ground.

Meanwhile, Dylan Podolczak was a standout in his first game of the season.

“Dyl gave us some really good drive and run out on the wing throughout the day,” Bray said.

“I thought Jorden Braddy was in good in the ruck as well — he was another guy playing his first game for the year as well.

“But overall I didn’t think there were any real standouts and it was an even contribution across the board.”

The win saw the Sharks bounce back from an opening round loss to premiership contender Airport West, when they went down by 32 points.

Bray said his team had built on that performance.

“I think our performance last week was better than the scoreboard suggested,” he said.

“The challenge was to stay in games for longer and grind out results which the boys did. In the end, our fitness was good enough to help us get over the line.”