Maroochydore vs Springwood 18's
Final score: d 9.4 (58) v 12.3 (75)
------- Game Summary ------
A fantastic, fighting win by the Under 18 boys yesterday. A tall ask heading up to Maroochydore on the big ground and up against another team for the reward of No.1 on the ladder.
Both sides were obviously full strength with all their stars playing, this provided a great spectacle of hard, fast and physical football of a high standard. There were mistakes by both sides, but that was due to the high pressure and fast pace of the game.
Hayden Day came to life kicking a couple of quick goals in answer to Maroochydore's start with two quick ones out of the blocks.
An arm wrestle for the first half was no surprise, we went into the rooms with a slight lead, also knowing they would have the wind in the third and would come out firing.
A few boys needed to lift for us to maintain the lead, and they did, but Maroochydore had a great quarter. All we wanted to do was hold them back to give us a chance to come home in the last.
Injuries started from midway through the third, we lost Cal with an ankle, Balmy with a blood nose, Crispy's struggled with an injury to his toes and Sammy had to come off early in the quarter for his shoulder, this started to breakdown our setups and it showed on the ground with the boys all over the place with guys coming and going. A four goal to one qtr by them gave us a big job in the last, but we were only eight points behind. Everyone talks about our last quarter being great, but the third quarter yesterday was, I think, our best quarter for the year, the game could have easily been over if we let them get too far ahead, we held them back through awesome determination and some of the hardest, thankless run and work rate by the boys. Not once did their heads drop, not once did they think they could lose it, they just kept fighting, and this was a pleasure to watch and feel the effort, and that includes all the boys on the bench just dying to get into the action.
The last quarter we were down with injuries , and we started to get more boys suffering from the physical nature of the game, Balmy, Cal and Crispy all came on and ignored the pain, just to help us get a start to the quarter. Linc came down hard in his back, but wouldn't come off and just kept at it. The stars of the day, leading from the front as genuine leaders do, we're Gus, Raaby and Rowie, absolutely fighting all the way to the end. The back line led by Willo and Sammy were the reason that a side like Marroochy only kicked 9 goals on a fast dry track. Hayden, Andy and Cherry had big last quarters, to finish the game off with some great goals.
Our teamwork was some of the best I have seen this year, our endeavour and never say die attitude was fantastic to see. A big thanks to the boys on the bench, they wait until their chance and they usually take it, they don't complain and they are so very important to our chances of going all the way.
Now we have the major task of maintaining our form right through to the finals, we cannot afford to drop the next two games, or we will lose top spot, and could quite easily fall to fifth even if we only lose one. You have worked so hard to get to this spot on the ladder, but that is only the start,we must keep improving.
FINISH STRONGER!!!!!
Last Modified on 07/08/2013 21:39
