The Mitcham Junior Football Club was involved in Round 9 action over the weekend. The Under 9’s this week traveled up to Batterham Reserve to take on The Basin Red. Coach Carlo Fanfulla had this to say on the game. “This week the team captains were Jack Apostolopoulos and Xavier Harpur. Jack had a great game playing in the centre, stopping a lot of runs from the opposition, while it was great to see Xavier playing well in his first game after a long-term injury. The game was an evenly matched contest where both teams were hard at the ball for all four quarters. We have shown how much we have improved, particularly when it comes to applying pressure to the opposition when they have the ball. We really made it hard for The Basin to score goals. Our only goal for the match came in the last quarter with Alexi slotting it while on the run. Alexi is a player who is growing in confidence each week. The boys were certainly excited to see that the coaching staff had brand new MJFC footballs to hand out to our “Players Of The Day”. The footballs were awarded to Stephen Burton, Oscar Marini, Luca Orsini and Lachlan Dane who all played outstanding games and had a lot of the ball. It’s great to see improvements in our side each week. I’m very proud of the boys – Well done. Go Tigers!”
The Under 10’s were happy to be at home to take on Forest Hill. Coach Jason Philactides filed this report – “Not a great start to the day when the opposition coach tells me that they are 5 players short, however like last time when we played Forest Hill, there is always a positive that can come out of it. With us loaning our 5 interchange players to them, it meant every kid got a full game. I must admit I don't like seeing my players and I'm sure the boys don't like playing for the opposition, but it's better to play than sit on the bench. The great thing was that every Mitcham player who played for Forest Hill did a fantastic job and I am very proud of you all for having a go and representing MJFC in a way that will continually promote the clubs brand! I think the boys thought it would just happen today, but Forest Hill came out fighting and to their credit were on top at quarter time. At the break I had a few stern words and asked the boys to play as they trained on Friday night and they responded beautifully! For the remainder of the game we were a side that played with confidence and poise while still respecting the opposition. There were some wonderful passages of play that saw high marking, shepherding and our trademark “run and carry” to kick a winning score. There was piece of play by Mason that was truly inspirational. He beat 3 of his opponents to the ball, got knocked to the ground, fought for his life on his hands and knees to win the footy, which eventually he did, and then gave a ripper handball out that resulted in the ball being run forward and a goal being kicked...awesome! That's the “one per-center” type of play that wins games of footy. Boys, this Friday when training starts, let's switch on for the hour and train like we did last week. If we do, I feel very confident of big things over the remaining games. Congratulations to Dan T, Nathan, Denzell and Mason for winning the awards and well done to Jasper and Damon for great captains games. A fantastic team effort by the boys today!”
The Under 11’s were back at home hosting Chirnside Park. Team Manager Geoff Jones sent in this report. "It was great to be home to play Chirnside Park, a team we knew we had to respect. This was the first time we had played them this season, and we all knew it would be a big challenge. Our efforts in the first quarter were first class. Everybody contributed strongly, and a goal from Blake after the siren helped the team head into the quarter time break with their spirits high. The second quarter continued to be low scoring and we restricted Chirnside to only the one goal. Unfortunately we were unable to continue with the same intensity in the second half. Chirnside were able to use the ball better than us and certainly deserved the four points. What we need to do from here is move on from the loss and aim to take a second shot at beating Chirnside Park in the final round of the season. Until then lets have a good training session on Friday night and above all continue to enjoy the exciting football we are all capable of playing.”
Final Score: Chirnside Park 8.7.55 d Mitcham 2.2.14
The Under 12's played Wantirna South away with Shane Dickson taking the reins against his old club. Shane had this to say after the game “We ventured down to Wantirna South’s ground today, which is a fair cry from our great ground at Walker Park. The boys had to contend with way more mud than they are used to. The boys started strong and were matching up well with their opponents. The first quarter we were competitive and managed to hold them to two goals. The second quarter was a highlight with the boys keeping the ball in our half 90% of the time, and then Kuot managed to score a goal. We went into the half time break only 6 points down, knowing that we had a chance, and the boys were feeling quite confident. The boys seem to start to fade in the third quarter, and unfortunately did not score. We came into the last quarter a bit tired and Wantirna managed to capitalize on this. To the boys credit they tried extremely hard and we were all proud to see that they are improving and taking into the game what we had practiced at training. Bailey did really well in the ruck, and Julian was a great asset in the back line as Full Back. Michael had a tough job on his opponent and managed to match it with him well. Luke B, cleared the ball out a lot and ran consistently throughout the game. Lincoln, Noah and Callum were all given specific roles to play, and should be proud of their efforts throughout the game. There were many others who supported their teammates, and I could mention everyone’s names as they all achieved good things throughout the game. We can all see the improvement each week, so keep working hard at training, and we know that your efforts will be rewarded very soon.”
Final Score: Wantirna South 7.8.50 d Mitcham 1.4.10
The Under 14’s had a bye, but are still sitting on top of the ladder and take on a hungry Bayswater side next Sunday at home in what will be a battle between first and third. Should be a cracker!
Due to the quirkiness of the draw, the Under 17’s played The Basin for the second time this year all be it at home, whist not having played two of the other sides yet. Coach Gavin Ward said after the game “Full credit to The Basin today. We know what we get when we play them – hard, contested footy and they never give up! From our point of view we expected to win today and we did, but it’s always difficult for us week in week out as we more often than not have an un settled side. This week we had boys again play under 19s on Saturday, but on the flip side we got a couple back from injury, which was pleasing. It’s a balancing act as we try to give all the boys opportunity to grow as players but also field a Competitive team each week. We face a huge challenge next week and while our aim is to play finals we need to keep winning - that’s how tight the under 17C Grade is!”
Final Score: Mitcham 18.16.124 d The Basin 5.5.35
BIG Round of Junior footy NEXT WEEK @ The MCG of the East Walker Park when the under 14s take on Bayswater in a battle between first and third game kicks off at 12.30 pm
Then the under 17s 3rd on the ladder take on the Ringwood Redbacks 2nd in what should be an absolute cracker of a game @ 2.30 pm So why not get down support the boys and make some noise - as always Yellow and Black is the dress code
Thank you Annette Philactides for the photos from the weekends Under 10 game!
Last Modified on 04/12/2019 12:30