Saturday morning, election day, and bright sunny skies made for perfect footballing conditions. And Sydney AFL's divisional structure saw a busy day with Bombers spread far and wide, at wildly differing timeslots.
The Under 18s were first in action, taking on St Ignatius Riverview at Blacktown. And it didn't take long for the Bombers to show their class; dominating the midfield and presenting plenty of options up forward on their way to a 37 point quarter time lead. And it was a similar story in the second term, as our well-drilled young Bombers fine-tuned their finals preparation with a dominant around the ground performance. By half time the lead was out to 57 points, a fair reflection of the effort and effectiveness of the Bombers' performance.
When finals time comes around, a key performance indicator and the difference between success and failure could well be the ability to run out four quarters; and the Bombers continued their relentless drive in the third term. The game tightened, but the North Shore defence held firm, restricting Riverview to a single point for the quarter and leading by 78 points at the last change. And the finals preparation continued in the last term, with a 5-goal haul stretching the winning margin to 95 points.
Final Score - North Shore 20.8 (128) lead St Ignatius Riverview 5.3 (33)
UTS at Trumper was a tough assignment for our First Division team, but they made a good fist of it early. Relentless pressure, tight defending and matching up strongly were features of a low-scoring first quarter after which the Bombers trailed by 13 points. The flood gates threatened to open in the second term when the Bats scored three early goals, but the Bombers dug deep. The back line regained their composure to stem the UTS assault, and slowly the tide began to turn. Late in the quarter the Bombers got their first goal on the board, and were getting more of the ball around the ground. But with a 27-point deficit at the long break, the Bombers still had plenty of work to do to get back into the contest.
The Bombers conceded an early goal in the third term, but the never-say-die Bombers weren't going down without a fight. Getting themselves back in the contest with determination, the Bombers began to reap reward for effort as the quarter unfolded. The ladder leaders were stunned as the Bombers ran through four unanswered goals to cut the margin to just 10 points at the last change.
But the break ended the Bombers' momentum, and with a few injuries picked up the Bombers were unable to continue the assault in the final quarter. They kept fighting to the end, but the Bats would take out the match by 23 points.
Final Score - UTS 11.10 (76) def North Shore 8.5 (53)
Disaster struck NNorth Shore early in the senior match against Campbelltown when Lachy Pryor departed with what looks like a serious knee injury. And it was a scrappy opening to the match, with the Bombers leading by 4 points at quarter time. And with two of the first three goals of the second term, the Blues had taken the lead.
But then the floodgates opened and the Bombers assumed complete control. As the Campbelltown resistance crumbled, the Bombers from the midfield to the forward line dominated proceedings. The ball was coming straight out of the centre with regularity, and unmarked Bomber forwards were popping up everywhere. The Bombers kicked 10 unanswered goals from the 10 minute mark of the quarter, and led by 54 points at the long break.
It was more of the same in the third term, the Bombers dominating proceedings around the ground, and even with some over-possession of the football had no difficulty in extending their lead to 93 points at the last change. And the one-way traffic continued in the last quarter - even with the result of the game not in doubt, the need to run out 4 quarters was all-important in the lead-up to the finals.
Final Score - North Shore 28.12 (180) def Campbelltown 6.5 (41)
Last Modified on 24/02/2011 20:16