TEDAS got off to a great start against Churchill in the Under 16 Preliminary Final. Within the first minute, Chris Mann, TEDAS, made a good tackle and was rewarded by the umpire and goaled with the resultant free kick. Churchills Dylan Weir tried to be inspirational for his team in the following centre bounce, getting the ball out, following it up and having a long shot from 50 metres out, but was off-line. TEDAS managed the next goal through some good work from their Captain Zac Gray who was proving a handful up forward. It wasnt long before Dylan Weir plucked the ball out of the air and kicked truly for Churchills first goal, and not long after, Nick MacDonald received a free kick, and aided by a 50 metre penalty, kicked their second, allowing Churchill to hold a 4 point lead at quarter time 2-5-17 to 2-1-13.
In the second quarter, TEDASs Brett Chapman became a pivotal option through the middle of the ground, getting involved more and more, sending the ball into his teams forward line, where Chris Mann marked and goaled to regain the lead. Churchill once again got the ball out of the middle and Matt Harvey took a good mark in front of his opponent in the goal square, and kicked truly. TEDAS managed the next two goals with some excellent team play and run out of the backline. They would have been further in front at half time, but another 50 metre penalty after a free kick saw Harley Lowrie kick Churchills 4th goal, giving TEDAS a 4 point buffer at the long break, 5-4-34 to 4-6-30.
The third quarter was an arm wrestle, as neither team was able to find avenues to goal, with both backlines playing extremely well in rebounding the ball out of their defensive areas. Midway through the quarter, TEDASs dashing sweeper Matt Royal pounced on a loose ball at half forward and launched a long raking mongrel punt that got past the players in the square and bounced through for a goal. TEDAS continued to dominate this quarter, but full credit to Churchills backline, sticking to their task and restricting TEDASs scoring chances. Scores at the end of the quarter were TEDAS 6-9-45 to Churchill 4-7-31.
The wind had more of an impact in the final quarter making it difficult for the players in the swirly conditions. TEDAS were looking to put the game beyond the reach of Churchill, and Chris Mann kicked the opening goal for TEDAS and extend their lead to 20 points. Churchills boys continued to battle it out searching for avenues for goal, but found it hard, and with Ryan Foulkes giving away many inches on Churchills Dylan Weir, he was able to minimise the impact Dylan had on the game in a great defensive effort. TEDAS managed to keep Churchill scoreless for the last quarter, and finished off with four goals for the quarter, giving them the win 10-16-76 to 4-3-31.
Best for TEDAS were Ryan Foulkes, Brett Chapman, Josh Gray, Chris Mann, Jordy Thornton, and Connor Moylan, whilst for Churchill, it was a good even Team Effort from all of the boys.
Congratulations to Churchill, as last year they finished at the botom end of the ladder, so it is great to see the boys stick with it and be very competitive this season.
Last Modified on 23/08/2009 22:23