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5pm - 6pm
PMCJFC Under 8 vs Beaumaris JFC Under 8
Sunday 29 July at Banksia Reserve (Away)
Coach : Anthony Cullen
Assistants: Warwick Horsley & Damien Oliver
TM: Trish Oliver
A bright and early start at 8:00 am out at Banksia Reserve for the last of our home and away games, the weather was suitably chilly for our mighty u8s. The new and vastly improved facilities at Banksia Reserve are a real credit to the footy club and local community; grounds were in good shape with the smaller ovals for our age group all set up and ready to go on arrival, including some very fancy “temporary” shorter posts with great padding and a warmish dressing room to get ready in.
All were looking forward to the return clash against Beaumaris who gave us a bit of a spanking when last we met. We had three co-captains, Henry ES, Archie and Jax and they all gave rousing speeches to the team-especially Jax who was channelling some of the great coaches of the past…..inspiring stuff young man!
The first quarter got underway with a tough battle for possession taking full swing in the middle of the ground, our mids were winning the ball well and getting it advanced in the windy conditions….Beaumaris defenders were well organised and repelled most of our forward charges. Liam got us on the board with a sneaky dribble quick from the pocket (#savethedribble candidate for sure). Beaumaris managed to get a few points registered for a pretty even first quarter. Our three captains were all determined to put in great games and it showed with their effort across their respective zones. Jax had an almost maniacal approach to winning the ball up front and kept up the spirit all day. Henry M and Ashton were very solid in the mid field and our backline kicked to plan after opposition minor scores just as trained on Wednesday night. Great credit to Sasha, William, Ethan and Jacob, who all contributed when called on with Daniel and Archie leading the way.
2Q saw us shuffle a few positions including ramping up our backline to defend against the wind. Ashton, Trace and Henrys ES and M were very strong in defending the goal line. We managed to stay close in touch with Beaumaris for much of the quarter with a see-sawing game of hard won possession well and truly underway. Jax, George and Ben knuckled under and really kept things tight….Liam made 10 tackles or so and forced the issue repeatedly. Daniel and Archie were very good up front as were Jacob, Connor and William….just couldn’t get the usual run and carry game going as all credit to Beaumaris who are a really well drilled squad with exceptional team work and focus. Archie copped one high during the quarter and had to be reluctantly replaced to be checked out….thankfully he was recovered enough to get back on the deck later in the game. Half time came with the game in the balance, all troops were upbeat and confident of securing a win.
3Q we had a freshening breeze at our backs, but just couldn’t land the results despite getting plenty of ball coming our way…really good strong team effort this quarter with contributions evenly spread across the ground…..George was particularly strong with great efforts to win the ball back through strong tackling and ground ball pick-ups. Luca, Jenson and Taj all played good parts in our defensive 50. Hamish, Angus, Jacques and Luke were very good in the mid field and Henry M did some handy ruck work to our advantage. We were very close as the siren sounded after the forwards registered a few good goals. Our worthy opponents have some very good kickers in the side and they were well placed across the zones to allow them to efficiently move the ball forward when crunch came.
We were confident we could muster the strength to overcome this team, despite a now howling breeze being to their favour…..what an exciting quarter of footy we witnessed. The ball went back and forward the whole length of the field with some excellent marking, scrapping and kicking from both sides….Beaumaris managed to finish off their forward entries a bit better than we did to run out comfortable winners but it certainly didn’t feel that way on the sidelines as the contest was tight and fought in a good spirit. Taj lost a tooth (due to come out thankfully) so was replaced mid-way through the quarter….Ashton was everywhere and both George and Luca had arguably the best quarters of footy as did many of our team.
Our home and away season is now over, with just the Lightning Carnival to wrap up the season. Its been a pleasure to coach this team of enthusiastic youngsters, they are all great kids who clearly love their footy and are prepared to listen and learn at training and in games. All have got better as the season has gone on through hard work and great focus…congratulations team. Hopefully you have all had great fun!
Thanks to Wazza and Damien for all their magnificent assistant coaching, running and drills each Wednesday and on game day…..with my travel schedule, its fallen to these guys on many occasions to manage training and I’m very grateful for that- great turn out each training with Mums and Dads helping too. Thanks to all parents who have done the volunteer roles each week…it’s what keeps the kids able to play.
Huge thanks to Rob who has shouldered the burden of umpiring most weeks – a calm and assured presence for both sides each week (please can we have another one two or more Mums and Dads step up to do the umpire's course and provide some additional resources next year)….
Biggest thanks of all to our dedicated and amazingly well organised TM, Trish Oliver- makes us all look good each and every week!
Go Colts!
NO REPORT
Match Report Round 11 Sunday July 15th
PMCJFC Under 8 vs Oakleigh JFC Under 8
Sunday 14 July at Murphy’s Reserve (Home)
Coach : Anthony Cullen
Assistants: Warwick Horsley & Damien Oliver
TM: Trish Oliver
Another great day for footy, cold but generally fine weather greeted our intrepid U8s as they shook off the cobwebs from two weeks away from footy. Having trained well under the guidance of Wazza, the team looked up for the challenge of Oakleigh. With our leader and mentor Trish Oliver away, we were a bit muddled in our setting up, but got there easily with the outstanding help across the parent group, particularly the Boots who were deputised TM and general “go to” persons for the day. After some confusion as to which oval we were playing on, all was settled and agreed with fellow teams and our always on hand and hardworking club committee members- thanks all!
Our Co Captains, George and Ethan, won the toss and wisely elected to have the breeze at our backs for Q4. An evenly matched midfield resulted in a real tussle for ball control in the centre of the paddock…there was no easy yards to be had as each and every possession was hard fought and even harder defended by both sides. Oakleigh took advantage of the wind when they did get hold of the ball in space to start putting our backline under pressure….what a display of hard defending we turned on. Whole group continued the fight and Ashton and Daniel led the way with some great counter attack made possible through good solid tackling by Henry E-S, Angus and Hamish. Ben’s goal line “stay at home” role was played to perfection with a couple of certain goals touched on the line! The mids worked hard to gain some ascendancy in the later stages and got the ball forward against the wind. A few minors resulted, but only one goal down was a good effort with a three goal + wind in Oakleigh’s favour. Liam and Thomas were stand outs in the midfield for Q1. Not a lot of work for our forwards, but when it went our way both Taj and Henry M looked up for it.
We opened up the second quarter with some really positive ball movement out of the centre, excellent service to our forwards by Daniel, Ashton and Angus. Confidence started to grow and we locked the ball in tight in our forward line, aided by the breeze and a tenacious approach, George and Jenson were determined to tackle everything that came their way and again, Liam went looking for the contact and was hard at it…great tackling also in the midfield by Ben, Sasha and Angus saw us win more ball than not. The quarter however “belonged” to Thomas, who was outstanding in both getting his own ball and capitalising on team mates sending it his way…..a three goal haul, including some surging run and carry was a display that had all and sundry cheering. A special mention here must also go to Jenson, who nailed an absolutely perfect legal tackle and was rewarded with a free kick---great to see! We went into half time with a handy lead.
The wind definitely picked up for Q3 and our worthy opposition regrouped for a big second half. Oakleigh midfield threw everything at our team and were very effective with their kicks, our backline came under immense pressure and were forced to repel a virtual tsunami of ball coming their way…..some excellent last line defence by Jacob, George, William and Hamish resulted in Oakleigh kicking 10 points and only one goal for the quarter…..we could only think what the score line might have been had we not been so committed to defence and they kicked a little straighter. We managed to get a bit of ball back through the midfield in later stages of the quarter. Being heavily outscored was not as a result of bad play by our team, we were just outplayed by a very good side who really lifted.
The break allowed us to spin the magnets a bit and confidence was pretty high as we had the wind with us. Again the midfield was a real arm wrestle for possession, we did get on top and started to move the ball well in the forward line…blustery wind made accuracy difficult but we did manage to reduce the margin considerably…Thomas got another run and gun goal and Daniel kicked an absolute cracker from the pocket on the run with an inside out banana against the wind that truly never looked like missing off the boot, the umpire just watched it sail over his head- Eddie Betts eat your heart out……you cant teach that sort of skill, it’s all natural! The final siren came and we were just short of a win…..definitely no shame in that, we played a quality side who performed well as did our mighty U8s for the most part. We had a few lapses in concentration at some critical times, but we can work on that and as is really important to note/remember this group are all in their first season of junior footy and finding their way week by week. We will be better for the match hit out as we approach the final few games of the season.
We will focus on full game effort at training this week, also on better tackling technique as we probably tested our umpires patience on a few occasions with bringing the opposition to the ground a little too enthusiastically…..great to see motivation like this but we must all ensure injuries are avoided. Reminder to all that our method has to be the “bear hug” without dragging down or slinging!!!
Really pleasing to see improvement and good development across the whole team…..all starting to get that playing a role in team sport is what gets everyone involved, wins games and allows the really skilled ones to look good in doing what they do; which is never possible unless team mates contribute as, when and how they can.
Thanks to our club caterers who kindly donated two vouchers for the canteen for BOG from both sides….Oakleigh were very thankful for this touch too. Our nominated selection panel of one (thanks Pat) selected their number 20 who was terrific all day (across all zones)…and Oakleigh awarded our Thomas for his great game and four goals!
Go Colts!
Match Report Round 10 Sunday June 24th
U8s Colts vs. South Melbourne JFC
Albert Park Lake (Away)
Sunday 24 June 2018 10:30 AM
Coach: Anthony Cullen
Assistants: Warwick Horsley and Damien Oliver
Team Manager: Trish Oliver
We were greeted with a slight but very chilly breeze at the home ground of our local rivals, South Melbourne. We have an unbeaten record against the South team, including the season opening Bedford Cup triumph; the whole squad was keen to keep it that way. Decimated by injury, sickness and travel, we took the field one player down under the leadership of Co-Captains Jacob and Luca. We declined the kind offer of an extra player from South but gratefully accepted their generosity in fielding only 17 as well. Thanks to South for that terrific act of sportsmanship!
The opening quarter saw us peppering the goal line with entry after entry, coming away with multiple points but no goal, all were up and about with plenty of great ball winning from the midfield and “locking it away” by the forwards. Taj, Daniel, Archie, Luke and Thomas all shining with great support from George and Ethan. Henry Mac also continued on from his BOG performance of last week. South managed to get a late goal to make it a close run score line, despite the dominance in possession.
Only a few magnet twists for Q2, with backline giving forwards a well-earned rest and get them into the game. A really pleasing aspect of the whole match was the way we set up for every ruck contest, our canny Assistant Ollie was big on developing this particular game skill/sense and we have progressively spent more time of it each week at training. Underlining again just how good a team we have for learning, we dominated the ruck contest all day, winning clearance after clearance with all zones putting into practise our drills to ensure we have time and space around the contest. Ashton and Liam had a fantastic Q2, winning plenty of hard ball and getting it to our run and gun champs, Daniel and Thomas who both had outstanding metres gained games! South had regrouped and presented with a renewed vigour, our team was equal to that and ramped up their effort to match. We straightened our kicking and went into the half time break with an OK lead.
They call it the premiership quarter for good reason, a freshened up team hit the deck running and soon asserted themselves over our worthy opponent. This was done with contribution from the entire team, yes our “stars” did what they do and ran, kicked and passed really well….but there was absolutely no quarter given anywhere across the paddock. When the ball was there to be won, we won it…. when the tackle was there to be made, we made it….when a team mate presented for a pass, we passed it and most importantly….when a goal was there to be kicked, we kicked it!
We knew South would come at us with a freshening breeze to their end. Pleased to say we were equal to the task and continued in the same vein as Q3. This was an impressive team effort again; lots of those little 1% efforts which go unheralded but mean so much the team.
One play summed up the team effort, focus and development of this team of mighty Colts: with South pressing hard on their half forward line, a sensational (fair) tackle was made with the ball spilling our way, the tackler hacked it forward for an on the run pick up/bounce/weave and kick lace out to a team mate who duly marked, played on and delivered a great pass which was again swallowed up in our forward line, again play on and terrific pass to the (much mentioned and practised) Hot Spot where a chest mark was taken in heavy traffic by our full forward. Turned around, took his time and potted the goal. This brought the house down and the applause was not limited to our own supporters! Under 8s with a chain of play like that certainly brought a smile to the faces of all those watching. Every goal kicked in the second half was a result of great team work. Well done to George who was rewarded with a goal after sticking to team instructions holding his place deep in the forward line which is hard to do when everyone is keen to “see ball get ball”….same applies to our “stay at home” fullbacks who stuck to their role and were great as last line of defence – Henry E-S, Angus and Luca all did this at various stages.
Connor and Henry M ran hard all day and Jax, Angus, Ethan, Hamish, Henry Mac, Jacob were tough in defence in all zones.
Another good game for our Colts, the South coach extended his compliments to our group and was effusive in praise for their team work and ball skills…well done all.
Go Colts
Match Report Round 7 Sunday May 27th
Wow! What a great game and win against East Brighton in the dying moments Port Colts! To be down by 2 points with minutes to go, and kick two late goals was magnificent!
It was really impressive to see you all put together the things we had worked on in training for this game - moving the ball on quickly, kicking wide to the wings from defence, and hand balling to your team mate in space.
We were well led today by Luke and Henry M. Both had stellar games and when the team see’s the captains lifting, the rest of the team lift. Fantastic performance guys!
We had a fantastic start to the game with a couple of goals from Taj who was just on fire the whole game. Really impressed with your work rate Taj and always looking for your team mate. Connor I think ran the most km’s of anyone out there and was inspiring in a 100m chase across the ground to win back the footy and set up Jacques to move the ball forward - really impressed with your efforts guys. Daniel once again put his head over the ball and with an eye for goal kicked multiple goals today and was the one who iced the game at the end to win it for the mighty Colts! Well done Daniel!
I thought our defence and tackle pressure was excellent today - Jacob, Sasha, Trace, Angus and Ethan got in there to give us a chance to win the footy back and move it forward. Well done.
A couple of excellent moments today - Will had a great run tap straight to Luke in the forward line who picked up the ball off a single grab a slotted it between the big sticks - a real captains goal and great to see the team get together to celebrate. I also saw Henry Mac ale a fantastic mark in the middle of the park and using his new found hand ball skills was able to move it forward - really impressed Henry, the practise is paying off!
We took a few injuries with our effort on the footy today - Ashton did a finger in the second quarter but made a strong return in the last, and Ben got a knee to his thigh though lucky his dad was on Trainer duty and was well equipped to get him right. I have no doubt both boys will be back stronger for it soon. Both out in huge efforts to get the Colts over the line.
I also want to say how special today was for the Cullen family. As we discussed before the game, in sport, as a mark of respect when the team and club has lost someone really important, we wear a black arm band. We did that today for Liam and Coach Anthony, and we did their grandmother and Mum proud. Liam gathered loose balls and got us forward countless times and his spirit and effort on the ball impressed all that were watching. We are all thinking of you Cullen family, and we dedicate today’s win to you.
Have a great week Colts,
Wazza
Match Report Round 6 Sunday May 20th
PMCJFC Under 8 vs Beaumaris JFC Under 8
20/05/2018 9:00 AM Home game at Murphy’s Reserve
Coach : Anthony Cullen
Assistants: Warwick Horsley & Damien Oliver
TM: Trish Oliver
With the winter weather now firmly entrenched we started the brisk day with an upbeat mood amongst the Colts U8 side. A very good training performance on Wednesday and a positive and focussed warm up were good signs for our round 6 clash against Beaumaris. Having been recently confirmed in our grading, we were confident of a strong showing by the team. Alas it was not to be. Despite really determined efforts across the paddock and a never say die attitude, we simply couldn’t match the physicality and finishing ability of Beaumaris on the day. They are a very well drilled team with some exceptional individual players amongst them. I have a feeling they will not lose too many games this season.
Being beaten by a better side is in no way a negative for our team of first season footballers. Whilst cliché, it is absolutely true that good sides learn more from losses than from wins. We will again focus on ball movement and good options in attack at training this week and remaining focussed for the duration of each quarter.
We cannot fault the effort by the team for most of the match, they tried very hard and were in the contest for a good part of the game. That’s the most important thing for this young group, keep trying and keep enjoying the footy!
Sasha and Connor were the Co-Captains for the day and like all those called upon so far this season, really focussed and gave that little extra to demonstrate excellent leadership. Connor was his usual in and under self, bursting away from hard fought contests with speed and a will to move the ball on quickly. Sasha, who has continued to improve her skills each week, took her game to a whole new level! Fierce in both attack and defence it was fantastic to see her rewarded with her first goal after a strong hot spot mark.
We also welcomed back from injury list, Henry Mackay who was slated for just watching but was keen to get into the game so we eased him back in during Q3…good training session and clearance from the medicos will see him get more game time next week. Great to see you fit and on the comeback Henry.
For the first three quarters we held our own, with lots of positive possessions and continued forays into our forward line. Beaumaris were excellent in defence and continually forced us wide of the goals to make scoring difficult- we had plenty of chances but just couldn’t get the scoreboard ticking over. Our opposition rebound however was quite extraordinary for an U8 group, they were able to move the ball from defence to attack very quickly and then had the fire power up front to score goals efficiently. A team with lesser heart than ours would have been wiped off the track by a cricket score, that’s a foundation to build on and something the coaching group will reiterate to the team as we are all proud of the effort.
We still had some moments of concentration lapses during the game that we will focus on at training this week….a little too often players were “star gazing” during the game…but hey they are all only 7 yo.
Some notable strong efforts and continued improvements from Daniel “Run & Gun” Boots, Ashton (energy and effort might make Duracell’s bunny nervous about being replaced), Archie who tackled and scrapped for hard ball all day, Jacob who continues to raise his game each week and Liam who provided a lot of drive forward when in the middle and tried all day. Another brave performance by Luke O who is absolutely fearless in the contest (Joel Selwood look out). Solid games as usual from Henry, Taj, Angus, Ben, Will and Luca. Also some very good moments within quarters by Jax, Jacques, Hamish, Trace and Jenson.
We continue to enjoy great support by parents in filling volunteer game day rolls…thanks for that. We still need to get another Mum or Dad to get on the match day central umpire roster. Rob, Damien and I are all accredited but both Damien and I are usually pretty busy on game day and training to take on central roll when Rob cannot make it. PLEASE step up someone, its not that hard and can be great fun.
Be remiss of me not to mention our unbelievable Team Manager….”Tireless Trish”….makes all our jobs very easy each week in being so organised and prepared.
Another reminder, please update Teamstuff each game….it is really hard to plan rotations without knowing who is and isn’t coming at the last minute. I'd rather not be doing this each week on Saturday….Thursday night by 7.00 PM allows me time to get job done when my kids are in bed….please try to meet this simple request.
GO COLTS!
Match Report Round 5 Sunday May 13th
PMCJFC Under 8 vs East Malvern JFC Under 8
13/05/2018 9:00 AM Home game at Murphy’s Reserve
Coach : Anthony Cullen
Assistants: Warwick Horsley & Damien Oliver
TM: Trish Oliver
Very soon me mentioning the wonderful weather is going to jump up and bite us all, but hey after Armageddon Friday that had just passed it was a delightful surprise to be at Murphy’s on a beautiful Melbourne day.
We were down a few rotations on Sunday with ongoing injuries and people away for the weekend. We were a missing some key talls which was to take its toll during the match. In all we fielded just 19 players against a well drilled East Malvern unit.
The team started extremely well with plenty of ball coming into our forward zone, unfortunately we were unable to put scoreboard pressure on through the first quarter with only a goal and some behinds for each team the outcome. Our co-captains for the day, Angus and Jacques led the team well in their respective back and forward zones. Our Q1 midfield was a good combination of pace and toughness with ball coming out our way more often than not. Ashton, Liam and Connor were our outside runners moving the ball well after it was won in and under by Archie with great tackle pressure coming from Ethan and Trace. Backline held up well with all right on focus, good efforts as usual by Taj and Henry M. All forwards did well, however East Malvern had a strong last line of defence which held up against the constant attack. Daniel made many a sweeping run after some good contested ball went his way from Luke and Jacob.
It was neck and neck throughout the next two quarters with the whole group doing their bit across the ground, we were unable to kick as accurately as we would have liked so the flood of hard won ball didn’t end in a strong lead we might rightly have thought it would have. Credit where credit is due, our opposition were great scramblers who fought hard in every contest. We went into the Q3 break with a narrow lead on the back of many behinds kicked, wasn’t so much our inaccuracy but Malvern’s determination to make us earn every single point. A really even contribution again with everyone contributing their best within their own skills and experience….that’s what really good teams do well! Very pleasing to see the continued improvement in our less experienced players, growing week by week…..special note here for Sasha, Trace, Jenson, who are all developing their on ground awareness and are willing to do the solid things each week to contribute to overall team effort.
Last quarter saw East Malvern really hit their straps and convert nearly all their opportunities when they finally came, as again despite plenty of ball coming our way we were not able to post a winning score.
A loss will not hurt this group at all, they are a resilient and dependable bunch who were a little disappointed but in no way downcast after the game; their three cheers was delivered as confidently and strongly as if we had another win and I could still sense the joy of footy in them…that’s what we are all looking for. I thought our co-captains both led very well and we had some great efforts in contested ball by Archie, Ben, Luke, Jacob (racked up fair few tackles again) and William ….Taj, Aston, Connor, Liam and the mercurial Daniel had their usual run and carry games…..
We will work on our team kicking and linking again at training and further understanding our strengths and limitations in moving the ball from one end to the other.
Another test next week….I’m sure they will be up for it.
Match Report Round 4 Sunday May 6th
PMCJFC Under 8 vs Oakleigh JFC Under 8
06/05/2018 9:00 AM Princess Highway Reserve Oakleigh East (away)
Coach : Anthony Cullen
Assistants: Warwick Horsley & Damien Oliver
TM: Trish Oliver
Another marvellous Melbourne day greeted us on the travel to Oakleigh. Overnight dew gave the team a bit of a look at what wet weather footy might really look like but the ground soon dried out.
After a very good and active training session on the Wednesday, we warmed up well and definitely looked ready to take on the well credentialled Oakleigh team (this club consistently puts competitive sides together across all age groups).
We were not quite awake at the first bounce with Oakleigh launching a barn storming run from the centre of the ground to score their first goal in about 20 seconds! “Oh boy, here we go” thought the coaching group and the collective strong crowd of parents attending…….Not a worry from the team though, quickly shrugged that off and got down to business with some excellent defensive work and hard ball wins across the paddock. Within a few minutes we had gained the ascendency and were on the march to take a narrow lead into the Q1 break. Daniel and Taj were very strong in defence with Liam, Luke and Luca running off their midfield teammates well to link up with the forward line. William O, our skipper for the day, put his head over the ball well and was able to channel the ball to Thomas and Ashton who were outstanding in their kicking all day.
Q2 was much of the same with our rotations coming in fresh and continuing the job, George and Henry got straight into the hard stuff off the bench in the midfield as did Jacques in the backline, dropping back to cover the goal line when needed and saving a few in the process (this young fella is developing into a specialist fullback for sure). Luke took a courageous mark, getting hurt in process and having to be replaced however the grab resulted in a gaol to us. Bravery award for the day, Luke! Liam was outstanding with long “get and go” runs and penetrating kicks allowing us to score well. Each counter attack was repelled by some excellent team efforts across all three zones….again our group made the opposition earn every kick, handball and scoring opportunity (cannot ask for any more).
Q3 was less than usual effort and organisation by the group, with our backline looking a little at sea in the early minutes of the term…we let in a few easy goals. Regrouping through the midfield efforts Connor and Ashton we were able to register a few scores via some hard fought yards in our forward line with Daniel and Taj kicking well after their zone team mates worked hard to lock the ball in our area. We kept our own, but only just. After a bit of a rev up from me at Q3 break the team looked focussed and determined to have a better Q4.
We started off a little wonky again in Q4 with too many easy yards out of the middle and through our backline… a few positional changes made and then a fabulous show of on ground leadership by Sasha who took a stance and wasn’t going to let Oakleigh get any more cheap yards…inspirational stuff that saw her colleagues lift as well to finish the game strongly and come home with another result. William, Angus, Connor, Jacob, Henry, Taj and Hamish all had big quarters. Luke returned from the bench once recovered and finished the game with his usual polish.
Great to see Connor and Luca get good goals and the consistent run and gun games of Liam, Thomas, Taj and Ashton put pressure on the opposition all day.
Another good team result, as a group we are really getting the fundamentals now with a solid ethos of sticking to the Colts game style and looking for and helping each other out.
We will continue to work on these and our basic skills at training so all can have an opportunity to have fun, learn and shine.
Great attendance for an away game and thanks to all who assisted with running, a/coach, goal umpire, central umpire, scorer and trainer for the day.
Match Report Round 3 Sunday April 29th
PMCJFC Under 8 vs South Melbourne Under 8
29/04/2018 9:00 AM Murphy’s Reserve
Coach : Anthony Cullen
Assistants: Damien Oliver and Warwick Horsley
TM: Trish Oliver
On an absolutely brilliant day (too good for footy) this late in April, we took the field against our old friend and rival club, South Melbourne.
A hard fought first quarter saw us just in front. Our midfield attacked the ball well, their backs defended with vigour and our own backs repelled everything that came their way. Opening quarter backline well led by Skipper, Thomas G. Some really strong tackling by all the team, Liam and Henry M leading the way in the centre of the ground.
Regrouping and making a few adjustments at quarter time, I asked the team for 3 goals in the quarter….they did one better with fluid ball movement and solid teamwork across the paddock. We worked on knowing how far we could each kick and not to try further before the game and it was delivered in spades this quarter. I cannot recall a wayward kick, many finding targets and if not definitely to our advantage. A four goal quarter in U8s …..remarkable stuff.
As we expected, South came out all fired up in third quarter, team committed to defending hard and they certainly did that. South threw everything including the kitchen sink at us, they got one goal from repeated entries as our forwards and mids battled like Trojans……some fantastic bravery by all…standout efforts by Hamish, William and Jacob who had no intention of letting the ball go to South (not just in Q3 either- all day)…Jacques kept dropping back to the goal line and saved the day more than once.
More of the same in Q4 with our superior teamwork and commitment to chasing the footy showing through for a really solid performance. Kicked really straight today, including a beauty from the pocket (OK as there was nothing else on).
Some highlights from game today;
Again this was an even contribution by the whole team, when the ball was in someone’s area they fought for it and made sure that South got no easy kicks, handballs or scores
All teams will have different skill levels but we can all put in our best effort- today we bounced back and delivered 100% effort....win lose or draw matters not, having fun and putting in the effort does; on that score we had a brilliant day out. Well done.
Thanks again for all the parent help and support….makes the game easy to coach and manage when all pitch in.
Match Report Round 2 Sunday April 22nd
Match Report Round 1 Sunday April 15th