Article and Photos by Michael Shillito
We’re already a third of the way through the home and away season; and the ladder is beginning to take shape. There’s a clear front-runner, a pack of chasing teams and there’s potentially some big gaps opening up in the ladder that could make it difficult for teams to bridge.
The runaway leader is Manly, defending the title they won last season. The Giants are yet to taste defeat in 2014, and only the most ardent Eagle optimist could have imagined that would change when they hosted Sydney Hills at Weldon Oval on Saturday afternoon.
The Giants wasted no time in asserting their presence, and jumped away on the scoreboard in the early exchanges of the match. Within minutes of the opening bounce, the Giants were in control of the contest and there were no viable avenues to goal for the Eagles. At the other end, the Giants were finding targets and keeping the scoreboard ticking over with regularity. Six unanswered goals in the first quarter opened up a 36-point quarter time lead. And although the Eagles managed to get a goal to break their duck in the second quarter, the Giants put another six goals on the board; going into the rooms at half time with a 70-point lead.
The under-manned Eagles had been shell-shocked by Manly’s relentless attack; but they dug deep in the third term and tried desperately to arrest the Giants’ momentum. And they had some degree of success in the third term, defending resolutely to hold the ladder leaders to just three goals; although they could only manage one themselves. For all the Eagles’ work, the Giants were 84 points ahead at the last change.
The Eagles had worked hard in the third term; but had nothing more to give in the last, and their resistance crumbled. Ruthless and relentless, the Giants capitalised in the final term; even when the margin had crossed the three-figure mark, there was no respite from their imposing dominance. Nine goals to one in the final term stretched the final margin to 136 points.
Brayden Fowler was again the focal point of the Giants’ numerous attacking moves, finishing with a bag of seven goals to take his season tally to 30; while Levi Brain chipped in with four goals. Daniel Dickerson, Levi Brain and Anthony Robertson were prominent contributors around the ground. The Giants remain outright top of the table, undefeated with an imposing percentage. 
It was a tough day for Sydney Hills. Although Dean Costello, Jordan McPherson and Scott Pierce continued to persevere, it wasn’t enough to lift the Eagles to a competitive score. The Eagles have a win, keeping them off the bottom; but are already ten points out of the top five.
Last year’s runner-up, Pennant Hills, remain the nearest challenger to Manly. The Demons had a loss to the Giants in round two, but other than that haven’t done too much wrong. Hosting the winless UTS at Mike Kenny Oval on Saturday afternoon, the Demons maintained their status as the Giants’ main rival with a comfortable 80-point victory.
The Demons got on top early, getting the jump on the Bats in the first quarter to lay the platform for a comfortable win. Six goals to one in the opening term established a 36-point advantage at quarter time, ensuring the Bats would never be in a position to take the lead. But the Bats weren’t going to capitulate without a fight; and worked to bounce back in the second quarter. Contesting harder, winning contests and setting up attacking raids up forward, the Bats scored four goals to two in the second term; defying all expectations to win the quarter. But the Demons still held a 27-point lead at half time.
After absorbing scoreboard pressure from the Bats in the second quarter, the Demons regrouped during the half time break and returned to the dominance they showed early. Not all the shots at goal that should have been goals were converted, but it barely mattered as the Bats could only manage a single scoring shot at the other end. But with five goals to one, and a 55-point lead at three quarter time, the Demons were in control of the contest. And with the sting having largely gone out of the contest in the final term, another run of six goals to two in the last quarter put the icing on the cake as the final margin was stretched out to 80 points.
Eleven Pennant Hills players got their name on the goal-scoring list, with Sam Zikman the biggest contributor with four goals. Alex Goodall, Ranga Ediriwickrama and Sam Zikman were ball magnets around the ground, keeping the pressure piled on. The Demons remain in second place, with only the one loss so far this season; although their percentage is less than half that of the Giants. And percentage may not be that important for the Demons, with the three teams immediately behind them having all played a draw.
Michael May made the most of his opportunities up forward to kick four goals for UTS; while around the ground, Tom Zilm, Kaizaad Mehta and Justin Kenna kept working all afternoon. But the Bats, with their only points this season coming from a draw, remain stuck on the bottom of the ladder; already three games out of the top five and in urgent need of starting a winning streak if they hope to salvage this season.
Chasing the Demons are two of this year’s big improvers, Sydney Uni and Wests. Both clubs have been out of the finals for the last couple of years but have started 2014 promisingly; and when they clashed at Sydney Uni No 1 on Saturday afternoon it would be a thriller.
It was a day of drama, a twisted tale of fluctuating fortunes. The first quarter was evenly contested, three goals to two in favour of the Students to give them a six-point lead at the first change. The second quarter saw the scoreboard tick over quicker, as the midfielders took advantage of the small ground where it’s only one kick to get from the centre to the forward line. The Magpies in particular were pumping the ball forward with regularity; and a return of seven goals to three opened up a 21-point lead at the long break.
But as much as the Magpies had little trouble in getting the ball to the forward line in the second term, it suddenly was a lot harder in the third. The Students placed pressure on, denying the Magpies scoring chances. The visitors were held to just one point for the quarter; and as the quarter progressed the Students reeled in the deficit. Four goals for the quarter saw the lead change shortly before the three quarter time siren, with the Students three points to the good as the teams went into the huddles for the last time.
The last quarter was a cliff-hanger. The scoreboard was ticking over frequently, the result of the game being in doubt as two evenly-matched sides turned on everything they could in an attempt to outdo each other. But it was the Magpies who were able to conjure up the goals when they were needed. Five of them compared to four for the Students, enough to fall over the line and be holding the last layer of the football package when the music stopped. Just one point separated the teams, but that was enough.
The Magpies’ win puts them in third place, just half a game behind the Demons. Taylor Williamson was a focal point for the Magpies in attack, finishing with four goals. Matthew Lemme, Andy Eurell and Leigh Conway were among their best. It’s been a campaign of thrillers so far for the Magpies, with three of their six games being decided by single-figure margins. But two wins and a draw from those close contests is what puts the Magpies ahead of the three teams below them. 
James Howard presented himself as a handy target for Sydney Uni, contributing five goals to the Students’ cause; and along with Peter Hughes and Sam Sleigh was among their best. Despite the narrow loss, the Students remain in fourth place, one win behind the Magpies.
Completing the top five, level on games with Sydney Uni but with a slightly inferior percentage, is St George. The Dragons kept their place in the top five at Olds Park on Saturday afternoon, but were made to work hard for it by a persistent Campbelltown side.
A high-scoring contest saw the Dragons kept in check by the Blues in the opening quarter. The Blues had come to play, and the Dragons struggled to contain the Blues during the early exchanges. It was goal for goal, four goals apiece with the lead changing several times, and the visitors a point ahead at the first change. But the Dragons gained the ascendancy in the second term, shaking off the Campbelltown tags and getting on top around the ground. And as the quarter progressed, the goals began to flow. Six goals to two for the quarter, and a 23-point lead at the long break.
The second term had created a buffer for the Dragons, and they would need it in the second half, as the Blues’ challenge was far from over. Backing themselves in contests against their more highly fancied rivals, playing with spirit and plenty of noise when they scored, the Blues would score four goals to three in the third term to cut the margin to 17 points at three quarter time.
And the Blues would cause some anxious moments for the Dragons in the last quarter as they kept coming. But the Dragons had enough in reserve to hang on, and would find the answering goals when they needed them. The Blues would win the last quarter with five goals to four; but the Dragons hung on for dear life in the final minutes to take the match by 11 points.
The explosive second quarter would be the difference, with Daniel Napper standing out with a haul of seven goals in a best-on-ground performance. Bryce Addison and Stephen Wilsen would also be prominent for the Dragons. The win was far from convincing; but they did enough to fall over the line and maintain their position in the top five. The Dragons are tied on points with Sydney Uni, it will be a critical contest when those sides play each other next week.
The Blues lost no respect with their determined performance, winning three quarters against one of the key contenders this season. Theo Guvari, Aidan Bell and Joel Bottin-Noonan were Campbelltown’s best. But although they came close, they were unable to take the game; and find themselves with just one win so far this season and are two and a half games outside the top five.
Sitting outside the top five but within striking distance are North Shore and UNSW-ES. The two sides played off at Gore Hill on Saturday afternoon, the winner to be just half a game outside the five. And it would be a contest that would go down to the wire. 
It wasn’t looking that way early, as the Bombers were looking the stronger side early and putting the Bulldogs under plenty of pressure. The Bombers would let themselves down in front of goal, with four behinds and a couple of other shots out of bounds before they finally landed their first goal; but two goals to one got them a ten point lead at quarter time. In the second quarter, it was the Bulldogs whose accuracy would fail them; enabling North Shore to score four goals to two and take a 16-point lead into the rooms at half time.
But the Bombers would lose their focus in a sometimes spiteful third quarter, enabling the Bulldogs to get back into the contest. The Bombers would score two goals; but four Bulldog goals, three of them from free kicks, saw the momentum swing towards the visitors. At three quarter time, the Bombers’ lead had been cut to just six points; and two goals to the Bulldogs in the first three minutes of the final quarter saw UNSW-ES take the lead.
The Bulldogs had a chance to extend their lead as Chris McKinlay had a shot from the 50 metre line, but the ball was marked just millimetres short of the line. At the other end, Selby Lee-Steere goaled for the Bombers to level the scores at the ten minute mark. It would be the last goal of the game. For ten agonising, scoreless minutes, the ball travelled from end to end; before the Bombers snapped four behinds in time-on and defended grimly until the final siren sounded.
Sam Carruthers, Teddy Strudwick and Nick Foster had been best for North Shore. It had been a scrappy game, never one that reached any great heights. But the four-point win, the third game the Bombers have played this year that finished in a single-figure margin, was enough to keep the Bombers in sixth place, half a game outside the finals. Should the Bombers get up against bottom side UTS next week, with Sydney Uni and St George playing each other, the Bombers will enter the top five.
The Bulldogs were well served all day by the efforts of Jeremy Daniher, Chris Jourdain and Jack McKinlay; but for the second year in a row, their trip to Gore Hill Oval saw them fall short by a kick. The Bulldogs are in seventh place, six points behind fifth.
Last Modified on 12/05/2014 12:33
