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1st Grade – Belconnen Magpies lost to Queanbeyan 46 to 169
Our senior team was brought back to earth quite quickly after a solid preseason with a convincing loss at the hands of Queanbeyan Tigers at their home ground. With 8 new faces in the side and a couple of players returning from interstate to the club it was always going to be question as to whether the team could gel and together and play a competitive brand of footy in the new NEAFL competition which will no doubt raise the bar in the standard of local footy. That question was answered fairly quickly with Queanbeyan hungrier and alot more enthusiastic and committed to each other and winning contested footy. We continued to turnover the footy exposing us to quick rebound footy from Queanbeyan and putting our defenders under a lot of pressure. We were comprehensively beaten in all parts of the ground and had no real quality passages of play.
Sam Rutland, Paul Raadts, John Love, Lex Bennett, Simon Curtis & young Lachie Harper (16 years of age ) were honest toilers for us but it would be difficult to say we had a winner anywhere and even these players mentioned were guilty of a high number of missed tackles and turnovers that spelt a Queanbeyan domination of possession. Next week we have a huge challenge of taking on a Sydney Swans outfit at the SCG full of AFL experienced players given their low injury toll currently.
2nd Grade – Belconnen Magpies beat Queanbeyan 94 to 78
The Reserve Grade team ventured to Dairy Farmers Stadium to take on last years premiers Queanbeyan. The game started in wet conditions with rain falling for the majority of the first half, the Tigers got the jump on us early and won a lot more of the ball in the first quarter going into the break 7 points in front in a low scoring first quarter. The Magpies hit back hard in the 2nd term kicking 6 goals with a lot of majors generated through great forward pressure and tackling. The 2nd half of the game was an arm wrestle but the team managed to win the majority of the stoppages and the backline was able to repel a number of the Tigers forward thrusts.
The Magpies ran the game out very well and managed to record a 16 point win. Joss Whitford was the leading goal kicker with 3, Daniel Lock and Steve Meikle kicked 2 each. There were many good players on the day with Reuben Towill, Ben Turnbull and Brendan Dess doing very well in defence. Nick Collins, Dom Bunyan and Daniel Posch worked hard on the wing. Chris Calvert, Sav Coate and Chris McDevitt won a heap of the ball and put plenty of pressure on the opposition. Our big men Jackson Maloney, Zac Sheather and Daniel Lock all contested strongly for 4 quarters. It was a good start to the season but there some work to be done to fine tune our set ups and structures.
3rd Grade – Belconnen Magpies drew Tuggeranong 54 - 54
On a frigid afternoon a Tuggeranong side came ready to knock over the Reigning premiers from 2010 in a 300 game milestone for the “Chief” putting a strong side on the paddock. The game did not start well for the Belconnen side as early turnovers proved costly when faced with an unaccountable opposition. The Midfield of Coate, Batton and Big Red were tough in close after spending a week on the track practicing their contested football, however when they found themselves in space with time to kick turnovers began to occur and Tuggeranong took the opportunity to seize the advantage. A straight kicking Tuggeranong saw themselves 3 goals straight to 1 goal 3 behinds ahead at quarter time. The second quarter began much the same as the first ended, with more costly turnovers by foot from Belconnen who had now all caught the highly contagious 'Dunn's Disease'. Tuggeranong once again took the advantage kicking further ahead while frustration crept in on the Magpies side. This turned into some costly and out of character free kicks and 50 metre penalties.
In the Second half the magpies finally began to play some good team football and seized back control of the game. Turnovers by foot through the middle of the ground reduced with the rotation of Whitey, Archie and Bubba into the midfield, however the poor kicking from the forward line continued with Belco kicking 2 goals and 6 behinds for the quarter. An under siege backline lead by the 'Super Sams' restricted the hawks to fewer shots on goal than the magpies however with Tuggeranong kicking true they increased their lead going into the three quarter time break. A Furious Puddles gave the boys a Rev up at three quarter time which lead to a far more committed attitude from the players during the fourth quarter as Belconnen controlled the ball in their forward half. Unfortunately the poor kicking which had plagued the forward line all day continued with Belconnen kicking 1 goal 7 against a desperate Hawks Defence, with the game finishing at 54 all.
A disappointing result for Belconnen who had every opportunity to take the game but couldn’t quite manage to Snatch Victory from the jaws of Defeat on the weekend. Next week Belconnen takes on ADFA in a rematch of last years grand final and looks to put ADFA back in their place for the rest of the season.
4th Grade – Belconnen Magpies lost to Tuggeranong 10 – 88
Belconnen Magpies 4th grade side had another tough day. Similar to last week, the day didn't start out well with four players pulling out on the day. The unfortunate thing was that three of four who pulled out were ruck options. This required some old boys in Paul Netting and Bernie Williams to be pulled out of retirement. With their Division 1 and 2 teams having the bye and the weather more suited to ducks, Tuggeranong were expected to be very tough opposition. The game started out well enough with Trent Hopkinson getting the first goal of the game but that is where good news ends, because as it turns out, it was only goal the Magpies would score all game. Tuggeranong started to take control of the game midway through the quarter when the Magpies lost player/coach, Rory Markham, in one of the best hits seen in recent times. The Magpies kept battling and managed to be only down by 5 points at quarter time. The second quarter saw the game turn well and truly Tuggeranong way. Relentless pressure on the Magpies backline eventually tolled and the flood gates started to open. Basic errors crept into the Magpies game and proved costly. This wasn't help when one the Magpies' main strike weapons, Ben Sainsbury, was injured. This took away a lot of run out of the Magpies backline.
The second half saw a more committed performance from all but was to no avail. A mounting injury toll had huge effect on the Magpies ability to score. When the final siren sounded, Belconnen had no bench and were down to 17 fit players on the field. Full credit goes to Tuggeranong for their discipline in setting up zones and sticking to their game plan. The Magpies tried hard all day and score was not a true indication of the effort put in by all the players, especially in the second half. New players, Vinnie Dutt and the old stayer, Stuart Dunn, battled hard changing in the ruck, while Sam Daniher, Chris Catena and Trent Hopkinson put in a tireless effort all day. Andrew Knight did a great job down back and Bennett Foster and Jamie Duncan pushed their bodies to shear exhaustion trying to stem the flow. A special mention goes to the old boys pulled out retirement, Paul Netting and Bernie Williams, who were initially told that they might only get half a game ended up playing nearly every minute. Also in this game, Marco Newbury had his first game as a field umpire and will represent Belconnen, along with Alex Mclaughin, as the fourth grade umpires. Thanks Marco.
Under 18’s – Belconnen Magpies beat Queanbeyan 46 to 26
The Belconnen Magpies took on a strong Queanbeyan side in greasy conditions at their home ground at Dairy Farmers. The first half was a real arm wrestle with neither side taking hold of the game. The Magpies had more scoring opportunities but didn’t covert well enough and led 2 goals 6 points to 2 goals 2 points at half time. The Pies fought hard in the match winning third quarter keeping Queanbeyan goal less and kicking another 3 goals to extend their lead. The Pies held off a determined Tigers outfit to win by 20 points. Ryan-Baker kicked 4 goals with singles to Allen and Wright. Best players Alan, Lamb, Posch, Ryan-Baker, Wright & Jones.
Women’s Team – Belconnen Magpies lost to Tuggeranong 16 to 66
We played Tuggeranong in wet conditions at Football Park. After an even start Tuggeranong kicked away late in the first quarter and then went further ahead in a terrible second quarter. We went into half time thoroughly deflated but regrouped and played our best football in the third quarter to outscore Tuggeranong. The last quarter was forgettable as the game came to a dreary end. Even though we were beaten easily there were still some good performances. Kris Britt was outstanding at centre half forward and was unlucky not to be rewarded with more goals. Clare Gough was productive on the wing. Alice Broughton did well when moved onto the ball. Jess Gilmour had an excellent game in the ruck. We need to learn how to match the pressure the top teams apply to us if we are going to be a serious threat in the competition.
Last Modified on 15/04/2011 15:30
