The Mitcham Junior Football Club was involved in Round 7 action over the weekend. Match reports from all the coaches below.
Mitcham Black Under 8 – Coach Peter Ajani
Mitcham Black played South Croydon in very cold conditions. The match was played in a very nice spirit with the umpire making the contest even and ensuring all players got a chance to get the ball. Unfortunately we had a number of boys away ill or unable to get to the game. We had more players becoming ill as the game went on and we finished the game with only 13 players on the field despite one of our players playing for South Croydon. This week the Captain was Marcus who led really well. He won the ball on several occasions and had several shots on goal. Marcus certainly showed great leadership abilities, well done! The recipients of the Mitcham Medal was Steve who played well in the middle, then ran the ball out of defence. He also played a really good quarter for South Croydon. The other Medallist was Gus who dominated when in the middle, kicking a very good goal and was one player who stayed in his position and on his man when instructed. Joel was awarded the Panelen’s Healthy Nut Bar and Café for One Ice Cream Sundae for his best game yet, with Joel winning the ball from the centre clearances and had a very positive influence on the game. Declan was awarded EFL Encouragement Award - Mr Croc Star Award for his continued efforts to be first to the ball. The Mitcham encouragement award went to Jesse who played a terrific game being first to the ball on several occasions and then having great kicks and a couple of very nice marks. The other Mitcham Encouragement award went to LeBron who played really well running with the ball and kicking a nice goal. It really was a good game to watch with everyone playing their roles and following instructions. Also well done to Felix, Marco and Charlie for kicking goals.
Mitcham Yellow Under 8 – Coach Josh McConnell
Mitcham Yellow, lead by our two Captains, Angus Butler and Dylan Spencer-Yates played an outstanding game against Norwood Vikings. The Vikings were a tall team with great players all over the ground. The Tigers however matched this with their willingness to try hard and be first to the ball and on many occasions this led to Mitcham Yellow kicking plenty of goals. Some exceptional goals by Heath, James Wilson, Ashton and many others came from the teamwork further up field. This week saw many if not the whole team putting their hands up for an award but two clear standout players that shared plenty of the ball with their teammates whilst kicking some great goals were awarded the Medals today. These went to James Wilson and Ashton Smith. Great game guys and keep up the great work with your teammates. Our two captains, Angus Butler and Dylan Spencer-Yates played exceptional games especially in defence and both won the awards of The Healthy Nut Bar respectively. Nate Evans was another that when near the ball, went in hard. He used his head well on many occasions and was awarded The Mitcham Football Encouragement Award. Mason Porter played a magnificent game today when in defence, the forward line and in the centre. Mason is always hard at the ball and helped his teammates come into the game and was awarded Crocs award. James Watts was awarded the Crocs award this week due to his tireless efforts all game and he always gives the Tigers so much run out of the backline. He is a fourth quarter specialist always taking many crucial marks across the half backline. Well done James! All the boys should be extremely proud of their efforts on the ground and on the training track. I look forward to seeing you all at training to get ready to take on Mooroolbark at 9am. Go Tigers!!
Under 9 – Coach Brad Aujard
Todays match against the Vermont Eagles was a very tough encounter with not much give and take from either side. After a very frosty 3-degree morning, it took the Tigers a little to warm up, but warm up we did. The awards today went to Joshy for his last line of defence marking…he was certainly not in his favourite position, kicking goals, but he knows how to prevent them as well. Ryan P found himself at the other end of the ground to normal as well and he also came up trumps looking very comfortable up forward. Leo had the ball on a string again this week, proving to be a real little match winner running through packs having a bounce and kicking long goals not to mention bringing others into the game. It’s great to see all of the boys diving in and getting first to the ball….another excellent all round team performance today Stay tough Tigers …and we’ll see you at 4.15 ready to rock on Friday
Under 10 – Coach Carlo Fanfulla
It was great to be playing at home against Vermont Eagles. This week our team was led by Jack Crawford-Boyce and Jordan Ede who both played fantastic games. Jordan returned after being away for two weeks and played his best game so far. His ball movement was great to watch in our forward line, giving one hundred percent at every contest. Jack contributed in taking good marks; having shots at goal and providing good run with the ball. I was very proud of our first quarter effort as we worked hard in keeping the ball to our advantage for most part of the quarter and it was just a shame that our hard work wasn't rewarded on the scoreboard. James Fanfulla was courageous in winning some contested marks and showed improvement in his kicking. The most improved player was AJ with his strong presence in the backline, marking well and running around players to clear the ball. A very brave Oscar Marini did some great smothers and was still feeling the sting in his hands after the game. We finished up with a well-deserved goal from Hudson Goulding in the last quarter, which made me very proud of how we played against a great opposition the Vermont Eagles. Go Tigers!
Under 11 – Coach Jason Philactides
Unfortunately today's result didn't go to plan. It's proving to be tougher than we thought in 'B' grade however I still have hopes of a win. We know thatwe have a tough battle ahead. The boys showed in the last quarter that they have what it takes to be competitive. We showed some good ball movement in the last quarter, which proves we have the ability but unfortunately it’s a struggle for us to do this consistently in our grade. I was really pleased with Preston's game today. He played his role perfectly. His opponent led him to the ball, which gave Preston the opportunity to beat his opponent and win a lot of the ball, which he did purely by playing tight. Well-done Preston. Also well done to Mason for the leadership award.
Final Score: St. Simons 11.11.77 d Mitcham 1.1.7
Goals: Denzel Allen.
Awards - Preston McDonough and Mason Loring.
Under 12 – Coach Mark Ross
It's been a very big week for the U12's. Jarrod Roughead and Dallas Willsmore from the Hawthorn Football Club trained with the U12's on Tuesday, which was a great thrill for all of us, and then Callum Mead played his 100th game. Our training session on Friday was the single best session for the season. "You play how you train" and "consistency" was talked about before this week's game against the fourth placed Croydon. We got off to another very good start playing our best 1st half for the season. Croydon came out after half time and challenged the Tigers, but our boys stood firm and ran out the game well to win 6-7-43 to 2-1-13. Our goal kickers were Joel, Josh, Wil Drake, Harry and Callum. Well-done boys. The encouragement awards went to Sam Agius and Will Drake, also very well deserved. Our effort and willingness to work together as a team is getting better and more consistent every game. If we train hard and work on our game we will continue to improve and develop as footballers. Go Tigers.
Final Score: Mitcham 6.7.43 d Croydon 2.1.13
Under 13 – Coach Shane Dickson
It was good to see we started the first quarter well, by keeping Ferntree Gully to just three goals to our one. With good attack on the footy we seemed to have more of the ball. While we did kick a couple of goals in the second quarter, unfortunately we did not continue with the same amount of pressure against our opposition, and we let the difference blow out to five goals. To our boys credit they kept F.T.G. to just two goals in the third with Ryan working hard all around the ground and Julian H showing great attack on the footy in the back line. Noah also showed great endeavour to get the ball and his hard, running to attack the ball was good to see. We were not able to maintain our level of pressure in the last quarter and allowed F.T.G. to get too many easy goals. We need to commit to playing the whole game and keep working on our game plan, continue to practice our kicking, hand balling and other drills and it will eventually pay off.
Final Score: Ferntree Gully 16.15.111 d Mitcham 4.5.29
Goals: Dominic 2 Harrison 1 Matt M 1
Awards: Ryan, Julian H, Noah.
Under 15 – Coach Cam Horsey
Back to Walker Park today where we got to celebrate 100 games for both Jared Newnham and Zac Ure. It was a fantastic occasion for these boys as they have both been at Mitcham since the days of Auskick. The coaching staff asked the boys for an extra big effort to make sure they got a win for our centurions. The coaches were also asking for a big effort at the start of the game and be the first on the board, as we haven’t won a first quarter for a few weeks. After the banner was torn to shreds and the boys settled into their positions, our mids went to work and exploded out of the blocks. The ball use was sharp and we peppered the forward line where we attacked the ball which resulted in multiple shots. The first quarter we were able to keep Wantirna scoreless, although it wasn’t from lack of effort by Wantirna South, it was just that our backline was so strong in the air and on the ground that they weren’t able to get past their half forward line. The backline was being brilliantly controlled by Stinger, Gilesy and Max. At the first break, the coaching staff asked the boys to keep the pressure up and not let Wantirna back in. The mids were on fire with Tails dropping the ball to our advantage where JP, Adrian, Timmy, Spiros and also Stinger used it well and set up more forward entries. Tim Ross was a stand out in the first half with his aggression and determination to win the ball where he helped himself to 4 goals. The only down side to the first half was that we let our guard down for five minutes and Wantirna started to dominate possession. That is the beauty of this season. Every team we play is pretty even, so we always have to be on our game, otherwise teams can jump you. The second half the script was written for Jared or Zac to be able to score a goal, just to make it a bit more memorable. The boys worked hard to give the forwards every opportunity to score, but with a couple of opportunities early for Jared and Jared also doing the team thing and fed the ball off to a teammate in a better position, we couldn’t get a goal out of either one. That was until late in the game where Jared chased down a player from a kick out and got the free. This would have been a hard shot until he received a 25m penalty, which put him on the line. Fantastic emotion shown from the boys after that one! The day ended with Mitcham well on top and I believe we played the best brand of team football this year. It shows how well we can play when we put things in place that we have worked on during the week. When we alter the state of play with slick handball and switching the footy we can control the way the game is played. Great effort today boys, with some fantastic efforts from everyone. Special mentions go to Stinger, Tim, Adrian, Maxxy and Jules. Especially to Max for his inspirational run from the backline, through the middle and linking up through the forward line for a goal on the run. Goal of the year so far, although Kev’s wasn’t too bad either! Lets have a big week on the track boys and make sure we front up again next week. Go Tiges!!!!
Final Score: Mitcham 16.16.112 d Wantirna Sth 3.5.23
Last Modified on 04/12/2019 12:39