Game 1 - Friday Night Lights
Friday saw the introduction of Friday Night Football to Mahoney Oval with the eagerly awaited clash between the Bondi Shamrocks vs Western Wolves. Mahoney just looks spectacular at night. Both teams took the field with the Bondi Shamrocks not fielding their full strength team and the Western Wolves welcoming back their Australian Defence Force personnel from their championships in Melbourne. The first quarter was a fairly tight affair with the Shamorcks leading at the break 1.1.7 to 0.2.2. A fired up Wests hit back using Georgia Woodyard as a tall target in the forward line and at the half-time break were leading by 22 points.
The 3rd quarter was a contest of attrition as Wests decided to paddle the ball forward matched by Shamrock desire for the ball. Wests kicked the only score of the quarter which was a goal in the last minute. The Shamrocks was asked by their supporters to give it their all in the final quarter and responded accordingly to kick 26 points in the final quarter - a highlight being Marie Keating bump in the forward pocket before collecting the ball and running in to score. Trailing by only 2 points, the closeness of the game excited the huge audience but Wests responded accordingly to kick a late goal to seal the game. A classic!
Wests now record their first win for the regular season whilst the Shamrocks are still on their steep learning curve.
Game 2 - Saturday Morning
Sydney University took on UNSW-Easts. UNSW had the bare legal minimum whilst Sydney Uni took the field with 18 in their new football jerseys which has more of a yellow base and a blue v on top. Sydney Uni had sufferred some injuries with experienced players out including Libby Fish and Kyrsten Winkley. However their "Baby Bombers" (12 of their players are 1st year rookies at AFL) gained plenty of possession winning lots of ball in the middle led by their rookie ruck Simone Walsh. However their inaccuracy in front of goal due to the breeze towards the brickwall end belied their efforts as they only kicked 1.8.14 in the first quarter combined with some stout defence led by Brianna Sterling.
In the second quarter, maybe fired up by some words from their co-coaches Penny and Kellie, Sydney Uni applied themsleves to the task at hand and scored 4.5.29 in the quarter to lead 5.13.43 at half time. Some beautiful work up the middle was the key to winning the quarter.
In the third quarter, the Stingrays applied pressure to Sydney Uni and deserved their goal to Jenna Linehan keeping the Bombers relatively quiet to 2.1.13 for the score at 3rd quarter time to be 7.14.56.
In the final quarter the kicking wobblies hit Sydney Uni again as their hard-work in front of goal only resulted in 1.5.11 to run out winners 8.19.67 to 1.1.7. The Stingrays should be congratulated for their commitment to the game despite being out-numbered whilst the Bombers record their 2nd win of the season in a row.
Game 3 - Saturday Afternoon
After a minute's silence for all those served for our country, it was game on between Balmain and St. George. In the 1st quarter Balmain wasn't as free-flowing as they normally were due to tight Dragons defence. The first quarter ended up 3.3.21. In the second quarter fthe Dockers were asked by their coach to get back to basics which led to 3.2.20 being scored to get to the half-time break 6.5.41 to 0.0.0.
In the 3rd quarter, the amount of serious injuries were starting to affect St George whilst Balmain had a full bench leading to Balmain to socore 5.6.36 led by their wing attacks of Alison Parkin and Karla Spilarewicz to get to the 3rd quarter time of 11.11.77
In the final quarter, a courageous St. George fought back to have honours even with both teams scoring 13 points each which consisted of two goals by Dragon's Captain Christine Coles whilst Balmain had the kicking yips of 1.7.13.
The final score was 12.18.90 to 2.1.13.. Whilst the breeze was strong, I think more application to kicking is required by all teams when you have the wind at your back on the weekend instead of letting the wind do the work for you.
Last Modified on 28/04/2009 11:09