Division 1
Mac Uni Warriors 8.8.56 lost to UTS Bats 11.9.75
The Warriors took on UTS out at Bensons Lane, Richmond, after the game was changed from Trumper Park due to wet weather. This was a battle of last years Division 2 and Division 1 Premiers with both sides on 5 wins and 1 loss.
We took the field with a strong side of only 21 due to the late ground change ensuring one player couldn’t make it due to work commitments. However even if we did have 22 players the opening quarter onslaught from UTS would probably have still occurred as before we knew it was 6 goals to nil. The breeze going the UTS way was only 2 goals and it was easy to see that the disrupted pre match preparation was playing its part.
UTS were on fire early and moved the ball quickly and effectively into our backline who were either caught behind or out of position. The young sides heads all dropped and left many wondering whether this was going to be a 100 point slaughter. However a late goal on the siren to the Warriors seemed to wake them up a bit.
A few positional changes and renewed focus on our game plan proved successful in the 2nd quarter with the Warriors kicking 4 goals of their own and suddenly UTS were quiet and the Warriors had a sniff of an upset.
Brett Harland, Dean Connors and Andrew Polkinghorne were good early however it was Vice Captain Paul Jackson the shining light in a welcome return to form.
Halftime provided the players and coaching staff time to reassess our game plan and set up. We decided on a blue collar quarter in which we looked to slow UTS up at any opportunity and attempt to restrict their scoring with the slight wind. This worked well for the first 10-12 mins of the 3rd quarter until the experienced UTS side piled on 3 goals to push the margin out and seemingly wrap the game up.
Our 4th quarter tactic of all out attack proved really good for our confidence as after UTS kicked the first goal of the last quarter to push out to a 40+ point lead the next 20mins was all Warriors. Unfortunately UTS were too good early on and came away with a much deserved victory.
Best in the 2nd half were young forward James Brackin who gets better and better every week, Kev Jones rucking all day and Scott Cations who kicked 3 good goals and looks to have finally shaken off his USA jet lag.
The Warriors now face the 6-1 Sydney Uni side at St Paul’s 2.10pm on Sunday May 30th in a must win game to stay in touch with the top 3.
Go Warriors and Kookas!
Best on Ground: P. Jackson, J. Brackin, K. Jones, B. Moore, A. Polkinghorne, S. Cations
Division 3
Mac Uni Warriors 4.1.25 lost to Moorebank Sports Magpies11.22.88
Well, the Warriors went into this game with no illusions; if they were to come out on top it was going to be a hard slog against the top of the table leaders. Ill discipline again forced the hand of the coach and all on the bench gained a run on posy while obviously the thrashing the boys got Thursday night hadn’t quite got the point across to some.
Although the preparation wasn’t ideal, the boys realised that an effort was needed and the Warriors came out hard with eyes only for the ball and an understanding that they could knock off Moorebank with determination and hard ball gets.
The backline drive was delivering well into the forwards and scoreboard pressure was affecting both teams as no one side was able to get away to a lead. The first half saw all the admirable football qualities expected by a premiership hopeful side in the Warriors and Moorebank were showing why they are up there and probably will be at the season end. Half time saw the score with Moorebank up by 2 points and Mac Warriors confident and very pleased with what they had achieved for the day.
The third saw a different team exit the rooms and the nightmare began. Over the next 2 quarters of training drills for Moorebank, the Warriors showed skills never seen before on a footy ground - passes that went 40 meters 4 foot off the ground hitting laces out to the opposition, not 1 on 1 but on some occasions 1 on 3 and 0 on 4. This had the advantage of giving the solid back line the ability to drive the ball out yet again looking very close to a beep test. With our inability to own the space around the ball, no willingness to do a second effort, let alone a third, and then only having 1 interchange the backline’s job never seemed to end.
We scored 2 points in the last half and as seen by the end score the Warriors were lucky to keep Moorebank to under a 200 point score line. Notable for the day were the backline that never dropped their heads and again the coach, although giving strict instructions to be played at full forward, spent most of the day in the backline mopping up.
And with that I don’t think there is much more to say other than disappointing.
Best on Ground: G. Clarke, B. Heard, P. Hyndman, M. Bishop, S. Potter, P. Le Breton
Division 4
Mac Uni Warriors 12.4.76 beat Moorebank Sports Magpies 7.8.50
Round 7 and into one of our biggest challenges of the year so far. Moorebank Sports were sitting just one win behind us on the ladder and going out to play them on their own turf was going to take a huge effort to come home with the goods.
The start of the first quarter did not go to the script at all, as the Magpies came out all guns blazing and put on three goals in as many minutes to leave the Warriors in a daze. But thankfully this was about to change. First Addo, and then Butch, pulled in strong contested marks and duly converted to put us on the board and before too long we had registered five majors to hit the front. A late goal to Moorebank right on the siren cut our lead to a solitary point but this was a good recovery from the early peril we were faced with.
The second quarter showcased the hardness at the footy that both teams are renowned for as the game turned into a real stalemate. Played largely between the two half forward lines, the second term saw both teams turn the ball over repetitively and despite the apparent lack of flow it was an engaging tussle between two evenly matched teams. Jockey was working hard through the middle piling up possessions, and was creating a good partnership with Bourkey who was winning all the taps. Unfortunately a lack of movement in the forward line meant that we suffered our first goalless term of the year, in fact we failed to register a score. But the backline, led by Timmy Lawson was holding strong, and ensured that we went into the sheds only 7 points down at the main break.
In the second half a change in forward structure was brought about and it paid immediate dividends, with the Warriors piling on three quick goals to grab the momentum. Dave continued to show fearless enthusiasm in the middle, putting the team first as always and Gareth was starting to have a real impact, with no Moorebank player able to lay a finger on him. Scuba was providing a strong target up forward and managed to take his tally to four goals going into the last quarter, as we held sway with a 17 point lead.
Going into the last quarter we were going to need to score a couple of quick goals to seal the result and that is exactly what we did. After playing down back for most of the game, Grant James was thrown into the forward line and bagged two early goals to put the result beyond doubt. In the middle, Shane continued to run as he had done all day and with the help of a few friends started to overrun our opponents who were starting to tire. Scuba managed to snag another to make it 5 on the afternoon and despite letting in a couple of late consolation goals, we were able to record an important 26 point win.
Another great victory, probably our most impressive of the season thus far. Also good to see we have learnt to kick straight, with 20.13 and 12.4 in our last two outings.
Best on Ground: S. Powell, G. Smith, S. Mann, D. Munday, M. Bourke, S. Willoughby
Division 4
Mac Uni Kookas vs UTS Bats
Postphoned – players please note that there will be 2 Kookas matches on weekend of Thursday 10th June – Sunday 13th June.
U18 Challenge Cup
Mac Uni Warriors 4.4.28 lost to Moorebank Sports Magpies 17.17.119
No report
Best on Ground: E. Stillman, K. Eynaud, A. Stewart, A. Brockway, A. Benson, J. Lemon
Sydney Women’s
Mac Uni Warriors 2.4.16 lost to Southern Power 3.2.20
Check out www.swafl.org for all things on The Sydney Women’s AFL League
Back at Mahoney Park again, the rain held off for the round seven match between the Warriors and the Southern Power.
We went out prepared for a physically tough hit out against the Power given that in our first game of the season they proved to be a strong adversary. We started quite well with a good clearance from the centre bounce with Kim Woulduis in the ruck. We went out hard and tough, putting some big hits on the opposition.
After the Power scored the first goal during the first term, we managed to get possession of the ball during a scrap in our forward 50 and Meghan Andrew kicked a snap goal to bring us even going into quarter time.
We couldn’t get the rewards for our effort in the second quarter with having a good deal of the ball in our forward line. Simone Faulkner was instrumental in clearing the ball from our defence, with several hard ball gets and plenty of run. Kirra Thompson and Alexandra Kvisle took several marks and ran hard to back up teammates to aid ball clearances. Some great tackles from Liz Fassone stopped the Power’s run through the centre.
The Power kicked a major to go into half time six points up.
Our belief was strong in the second half and Alex Frolich scored our second goal. Leah Woulduis was a force to be reckoned with as her run and strength helped to deny the Power any goals. The ruck was changed as Naomi McDonald took up the challenge, and Kim Woulduis dropped down to the backline. Kim laid some very tough sheppards and had the Power second guessing her strength. Naomi rucked well to give the midfielders the best chance to get the clearance.
We were two points up at the start of the fourth quarter, and had one player on the bench. Again we had most of the possession and had several attempts for goal only to get minors. Then with a hard run from their back line the Power caught us out overlapping our defence and scoring the winning goal to beat the Warriors by just four points.
The defensive pressure by both teams was exceptional, with a total of 5 goals scored in the whole match. Week by week the Bravehearts are consistently showing signs of improvement, and they defiantly showed that they are getting tougher.
The Warriors are really going to have to bring everything to the field next week as we face the experienced Newtown Breakaways, 9am Saturday at Mahoney Park.
Best on Ground: Liz Fassone, Alexandra Kvisle, Melinda D’arcy, Simone Faulkner, Kim Woulduis, Naomi McDonald.
Last Modified on 25/05/2010 14:49