The Haileybury senior academia ventured toMelbourneUniversityon Saturday, determined to make it three in a row. The U/19s were hosting Marcellin, while the school First XVIII were at home to Carey.
It ended up being a 50% strike rate with the juniors showing the way. The Seniors and Reserves were both beaten while the U/19s and First’s both registered victories.
MelbourneUniversityalways provides a magnificent backdrop, steeped in history and knowledge. And you can a great taste as it usually takes a couple of laps around the grounds to find a park. Public transport next time!
But the boys in magenta and black had few transport problems and were quickly into gear. Kicking with the aid of a three goal wind, the game got off to an intense start. Both sides were hard at it as the first 5 minutes were played between the half back lines. Eventually we made some deeper forward forays. A couple of posters didn’t help the cause but Nashy scored early from a play which will become a year’s highlight. After Ed Limon ran with the flight of the ball to make a contest and force a ball in, Weekesy found a possession deep in the OBs forward line. It was quickly across to Dan Harrison who found a “sneaky” Sam LJ parked on the other half back line. It was quickly across to Raff and then onto Ferg who handballed to Nashy to slot one through the big sticks. There was barely a contest in all this and it demonstrated that the boys were “on”.
A five point advantage probably wasn’t just reward for the effort in the first stanza so the second quarter was going to be vital. It was obvious early on that the intensity was going to continue. Players were being tackled hard but fairly and it was a quality game of football. Blacks kicked the first couple of goals for the quarter but Pop got his first as did Nick Gooda to ensure we went into the main break with a 5 point lead. While conditions were artic like, the wind blowing down the eastern end, neither side had been able to dominate when being assisted.
The third quarter got off to a great start with Pop getting his second and Nashy popping up again for a fantastic individual effort where he must have recorded 318 dream team points. He was involved in the passage of play from the middle of the ground, followed up, tackled and finally got the ball back to then score a snap over the shoulder. A great solo effort. It was all looking pretty positive as we had skipped away to a 20 point lead.
But the last part of the quarter was a reminder that we were playing a good side. The hosts put on four unanswered goals in about 10 minutes which meant they went into the orange break with a one point advantage. But again, while the wind had been important but both sides had shown it was possible to kick goals into the “breeze”.
But the game had turned and Blacks kicked the first couple of goals for the stanza within five minutes and we were finding it hard to get our hands on the pill. They had their tails up and there appeared little we could do. A couple of late goals restored a bit of respectability but it was all too little too late.
It was a disappointing end to the match as for three and a half quarters we played tremendous football to show we can do it with the best. But of course against the better sides it needs to be over four quarters.
Hammer and Gledders led from the front, Nashy maintained his lead in the goalkicking, whileLilleand Al Dog were good all day.
Old Haileybury
Goal Kickers: L. Nash 3, J. Nicolopoulos 2, N. Gooda 2, T. Ridgway , A. Johnston
Best Players: H. McLauchlan, B. White, P. Gleadhill, B. Seccull, M. Lillie, J. Slade
The Ressies approached the game full of confidence after a couple of victories in the preceding weeks. But it was not meant to be with Blacks demonstrating their traditional depth. It was all over at quarter time with the hosts kicking eight goals to two.
It was a bit of a wake up call and demonstrates what is required against the top sides. We look forward to the boys bouncing back next week.
The U/19s have moved to second on the ladder after a convincing win over Marcellin at McKinnon on Saturday. It didn’t always look that way with the visitors kicking the first two goals of the game. But the boys got into gear to kick seven unanswered goals.
The boys had a taste of football on the main oval at McKinnon and obviously enjoyed the experience. Matt Mitchell bagged seven goals and appears to be a bit of a revelation there at full forward. Sam Hall came back into the side and quickly asserted himself on the game.
Overall it was another significant win and being a good margin shows that there are some quality footballers amongst this younger group.
Old Haileybury
Goal Kickers: M. Mitchell 7, D. Secatore 3, J. Paul 2, C. Venten 2, L. Pinot 2, J. Lynch 2, A. Thomson , B. Gillen , D. Walsh , A. Mathers , J. Spasevski
Best Players: M. Mitchell, S. Hall, L. Pinot, D. Secatore, J. Toy, C. Venten
The School First XVIII had a dramatic one point victory over Carey. The final scores were Haileybury 11.10. 76 to Carey 11.09. 75. That makes the boys three from three and right in contention.
Last Modified on 17/02/2013 22:26