Article and Photos by Michael Shillito
We began the season at the end of March with ten teams in Premier Division, and now the season is over for five of them. For the other five, finals action beckons.
For most of the season, the top five looked to be locked in. Manly runaway leaders, with Pennant Hills a clear second. A tight contest for third and fourth between St George and Wests, with Sydney Uni holding down fifth place.
But the Students had never really looked convincing, losing more games than they have won. Which left them vulnerable if a team from outside the top five was able to string some wins together. And a late surge by UNSW-ES had the Students in trouble.
The Students had a chance to seal a finals berth in the last round. It would be a tough assignment, taking on the high-flying Manly at Henson Park on Saturday evening. It was a wet and windy day, but the weather was nothing compared to the doom and gloom that the scoreboard would send to the Sydney Uni side.
Any hope of an upset win had already been blown away by quarter time. Six unanswered goals to the Giants had opened up a 39-point lead, a mountainous margin that would be impossible for the Students to make any dent in through the remainder of the evening.
But although the Manly midfield was completely dominant and the defence was rarely called into action; the wasteful finishing in the second term was the only chink in the Giants’ armour. Keeping the ball on the forward line for virtually all of the quarter, their grip on the game was never threatened; but some poor finishing didn’t do justice to what a dominant performance it was. Despite an inaccurate return of 1.9 for the quarter, the Giants took a 52-point lead into the rooms at half time.
The Students had been unable to manage a goal in the first half, and they wouldn’t break that drought in the third quarter. It was the Giants at their imposing best, with bone-crunching tackling, intense pressure and forcing turnovers before pumping the ball forward to the waiting targets. Six unanswered goals for the quarter extended the margin to 90 points at the last change.
The Manly defence didn’t have much to do, but when the ball was on the Students’ forward line, the defenders were relentless. That continued in the final term as the University side was held goal-less. At the other end, the Giants didn’t get a goal either, trying on some footballing party tricks. But a 92-point win showed how imposing they were; and in the final two rounds of the home and away season, the Giants would only concede a single goal.
Brayden Fowler was at his best on the forward line, untroubled in bagging a six-goal haul for the day; and along with David Stroud and Connor Pettersson was among the Giants’ best. Josh Smith, Jack Caspersonn and Vincent Barwick continued to work hard through a dirty night for the Students.
It’s been many a long year since a team was held goal-less through an entire Premier Division game. But Sydney Uni were not the only team to fail to draw twin flags from the goal umpire in the final round. At Monarch Oval, Campbelltown were also subjected to that unwanted distinction by a red-hot St George side.
The Dragons were going into the game on the back of a shock loss to North Shore. But, keen to re-establish their form and momentum leading into the finals, they immediately got on the front foot and wasted little time in getting a lead on the scoreboard.
Four unanswered goals saw the Dragons lead by 28 points at quarter time. Three more in the second saw the half time lead out to 52 points.
On their day, the Blues can be a competitive side that are capable of matching it with some better sides in the comp. But this was not their day. A succession of poor decision-making, some sloppy turnovers and missed tackles meant the Dragons were surging ahead while barely raising a sweat. And the Dragons would face little resistance in the third term, with a further six goals getting the lead out to 93 points at three quarter time. And there would be no opportunity for the Blues to salvage anything from what had been a dismal afternoon for the home side, as the Dragons added four more in the last to stretch the final margin out to 118 points.
It was a disastrous afternoon for the Blues. A season that at times showed some promise had faded out badly, and they would manage just one goal from their last two games for the season.
For the Dragons, much better news. A comprehensive win, getting their form back on the eve of the finals. And the double chance, ensuring their match against Pennant Hills next week will not be season-ending.
St George’s win ensured that they would take the double-chance, and a Qualifying Final clash with Pennant Hills. Leaving Wests in fourth place and a sudden-death Elimination Final.
The Magpies ended a two-game losing streak, ensuring they would go into the finals with a win at their last start. But they were far from convincing, well short of their best form, as they just fell over the line by five points against UTS in heavy and slippery conditions at Picken Oval on Saturday afternoon.
The Bats had come to play, motivated by a desire to avoid any risk of the wooden spoon and to salvage something from what had been a disappointing season. From the start, they showed plenty of intensity and placed the Magpies under immense pressure. And the scoreboard would reflect their efforts, as they put on four goals to two in the opening term to lead by 14 points at quarter time. And that margin would remain intact at the long break after just two scoring shots, a goal apiece, would be registered in a scrappy second quarter. 
The Magpies were without a few key players, most notably Marcus Linsen. An off-the-ball incident in last week’s game against UNSW-ES saw Linsen cited by the Tribunal; and video footage of the incident attracted plenty of attention across the football internet. The Tribunal rubbed Linsen out for seven games, ending his 2014 season.
In the third quarter, the Magpies could have done with some of Linsen’s drive, as they continued to struggle in difficult conditions against a determined opponent. It was another low-scoring quarter, with scrappy play and plenty of errors as the Bats would score the only goal of the quarter and lead by 16 points at three quarter time.
But, needing to dig deep and re-discover some sort of form on the eve of the finals, the Magpies found a way to win a game that for most of the afternoon had looked to be a likely defeat. Four goals to one in the final term, hitting the lead in the final moments of the game. It had been far from a convincing display from the Magpies, but they somehow managed to take the points.
Lindsay Scown, Matt Round and Leigh Conway picked up a stack of possessions for the Magpies, particularly during their final quarter fightback. Josh Maddox kicked four goals for the Bats, and along with Kaizaad Mehta and Matthew Strempel was among UTS’s best. It was a heart-breaking end to the season for the Bats, the culmination of a year that didn’t deliver on what was promised; but the Bats will work hard during the off-season to bounce back stronger and harder in 2015.
The game at Mike Kenny Oval on Saturday afternoon had no bearing on the makeup of the finals. Nothing that could have happened would affect the Demons’ second place, while the Bombers were out of contention. But the Demons, keen to maintain their winning momentum in the lead-up to the finals, weren’t going to treat this game as a dead rubber.
The Bombers showed some resistance in the early exchanges, but it was clear they didn’t have the firepower to match it with a well-drilled Demon outfit. A return of five goals to two in favour of the Demons saw them hold a 19-point quarter time lead. And the Bombers were unable to trouble the scorers in the second term, as the Demon defenders resolutely prevented the visitors from getting any freedom to move in their forward zone. It wasn’t a great quarter of football, more of a desperate scrap; but the Demons scored the only two goals of the quarter to lead by 38 points at half time.
The difference between a team fine-tuning their finals preparations compared to a team counting down the minutes till a nightmare season was over was all too apparent during the premiership quarter. The scoreboard showed five unanswered goals, while the run of play showed the Bombers barely completing a clean possession while the Demons controlled play at will. As the teams moved into their huddles at three-quarter time, the 73-point margin reflected the lopsided nature of the game.
But although beaten again in the last quarter, the Bombers at least put up some resistance. They scored goals, something that two sides in this round were unable to do. They competed around the ground and made the Demons earn their touches, which hadn’t looked to be the case earlier. But the Demons were looking ready for finals action, kicking five goals to three in the final term to run out 86-point winners.
Tom Angel, Damian Dell’Aquila and Daniel Witt were influential around the ground all day, pivotal to the impressive Demon performance. A finals date with St George awaits.
For the Bombers, Selby Lee-Steere scored four of their five goals to be their best; while Nick Foster and Matt Adamson also battled tirelessly. But for North Shore, a season that promised much and delivered little is finally over; and it won’t be long till the Bombers are planning their 2015 fightback.
The last game of the home and away season was played on Sunday afternoon, with Sydney Hills Eagles playing host to UNSW-ES at Bruce Purser Reserve.
Sydney Uni’s loss on Saturday had opened the doors for the Bulldogs to leap-frog them into the finals; and against the bottom side, it was a likely result. But the Eagles weren’t going to lie down and give them the game. For a bottom side, they were in reasonable form going into the contest, having won two of their last three. Full of running, full of enthusiasm, the Eagles put the Bulldogs under plenty of pressure with four goals to two in the opening term to lead by 14 points at quarter time.
Both sides were creating chances in the second term, but neither was able to achieve reward for the effort they had put in. Conditions on Sunday were better than they had been on Saturday, although the centre square was heavy enough to move the circle to the east of the centre of the ground. But that only one goal apiece was scored in the second term was more to do with pressure and poor finishing than it was to do with the conditions.
The home side was holding a shock 16-point advantage at the long break. But with a spot in the finals up for grabs, the Bulldogs were always going to come out hard in the premiership quarter. And so it would be. Lifting their workrate, defending harder, creating more opportunities. Some missed shots at goal would cost the Bulldogs, and it wouldn’t be until time-on that they would capture the lead. But three unanswered goals for the quarter and a seven-point lead to the Bulldogs at the last change; it looked like the tide had turned and the Bulldogs were finals-bound. 
But the Eagles had something to play for as well; the chance to avoid the wooden spoon. And during the three quarter time break, the Eagles found their second wind. Suddenly the Hills side were playing as men inspired, sensing the opportunity to claim a major scalp. Throwing caution to the wind, contesting every possession, making leads and attacking hard. And scoring chances opened up. They weren’t able to convert all of them, but six goals to two was enough to turn the three quarter time deficit into a remarkable win.
The final winning margin for the Eagles was 23 points. Lyndon Hupfeld finished with four goals for the Eagles; while around the ground Jordan McPherson, Dean Costello and Matthew Scholz were impressive ball-winners. Even as recently as four weeks ago it had looked beyond them, but the Eagles avoided coming last; handing the unwanted wooden spoon to UTS.
Jack McKinlay, Fletcher Rowe and Hayden Nichols were best for UNSW-ES. But the last quarter fade-out by the Bulldogs meant that they would miss out on the finals.
Instead, Sydney Uni; despite having not scored a goal in their last game and winning just seven games for the season; will be playing finals after all. Some major sighs of relief at the Camperdown campus.
So we say farewell to UNSW-ES, North Shore, Campbelltown, Hills Eagles and UTS. They’ll all be back in 2015 to look for Premier Division redemption.
Manly, as minor premiers, take next weekend off. Pennant Hills and St George will be playing off on Saturday for the right to play them for a Grand Final berth. And on Saturday, Wests and Sydney Uni will do battle in a game in which only one will stay alive for 2014.
Last Modified on 25/08/2014 12:13
