Seniors
Really not too much you can say about this. We were completely outclassed by an impressive Trinity team that played the wide expanses of their home ground very well.
While the home side seemed to have our measure from early on, we hung in for long periods of the first half but when they did break the shackles they were able score goals quickly and with relative ease. This was a theme of the game as for long period we were able to break even only for the T’s to kick multiple goals in quick succession. They run and spread very well and certainly displayed a lot more polish then we did with ball in hand. We tried hard but again skill errors plagued us. Despite our battles this year we have not really had a big score kicked against us so it was disappointing to have Trinity put 20 goals on the board.
With the ball spending a lot of time in the OT’s forward line Tom Moloney had a lot of work to do and was very good, as were Matt Fieldsend and Dan Close. Luke Williams, Tys Parker and Adrian Indovino were also solid contributors. ‘Indy’ has been most impressive since coming up from the 19s a few weeks ago and another U19 player Charlie Haley led the scorers once again with 3 goals.
On the bright side we had two more debutants with Sef McGraw and Hamish Ramsay elevated from the U19s today. A tough introduction to ‘A’ grade footy but the boys showed enough to suggest they will be good players for many years to come.
In such a tight competition and the sides below showing some glimpses of form we desperately need a win. We have looked a much better team at home and will be looking for an improved performance against Beaumaris next week.
De La Salle 8.3.51
Old Trinity 20.16.136
Goal Kickers: C. Haley 3, J. Gotch , B. Oakley , A. Indovino , J. Oakley , S. Williams
Best Players: T. Moloney, M. Fieldsend, D. Close, L. Williams, T. Parker, A. Indovino
Reserves
More positive signs for the 2s but unfortunately a loss by the narrowest of margins. Ed Espinosa returning to the club bagged 6 to nearly pinch the game. Kneebone and Hyland again good contributors and must be pushing for a recall.
Goal Kickers: E. Espinosa 6, M. De Luca 2, J. Ramsden , S. Hogan , M. Hogan , A. Kneebone , N. Beaumont , C. Cavanagh
Best Players: A. Kneebone, N. Hyland, E. Espinosa, J. Mattiske, D. Freeman, S. Hogan
19 Blues
Bright start but disappointing end. Report to follow
De La Salle 13.6.84
St Bedes 18.14.122
Goal Kickers: A. Wheatley 3, J. Gava 2, A. Munday 2, D. Marchese 2, M. Dumbleton , J. Howard , E. Holden , M. Martinez
Best Players: D. Marchese, J. Howard, D. Commins, M. Dumbleton, J. Cox, A. Hay
19 Golds
The challenges keep coming for the Golds and this week it was top team Ormond.
We made a couple of changes, some were forced, some were as a result of good form and others were to integrate new players in to the team.
The weather forecast was not great, so it was a tremendous outcome for both sides that the game was played in sunny conditions. Both sides warmed up, and it was quietly amusing to see the respective coaches and players looking at opposition players trying to determine who the players to watch and be aware of were.
The start of the game was pretty frenetic as was to be expected, but it may have taken some of the players from both sides a little by surprise, however both sides settled pretty quickly and tried to get some system into their game. Ormond were looking to isolate their tall forwards by having their mids get the ball into the forward half quickly, and De La were looking to apply forward pressure and use their smaller mid sized players to get some space from their opponents.
There was a good breeze favouring the cricket nets end of the ground with the away team having first use and they quickly settled into stride looking to get the ball quickly into their tall targets. Each of our taller backs (Akritidis, Stewart and "Shredder") were looking to get a fist in at all times to then win it back once the ball hit the ground, and they were in the main being fairly successful. The backs were working pretty hard and Ash Munday, Stef Taranto and Lachy Carracher were probably winning their individual battles, but it was requiring that all players were constantly aware of their opponent and even minor lapses were punished.
Ormond quickly skipped out to a 3 goal lead, but we finished the quarter strongly and kicked a couple to relatively satisfied with the outcome, and the break.
The 2nd started with all our on-ballers reminded of the importance of having a designated opponent and the need to be aware of where they were at all times, given the Ormond mids were strong runners, kicked the ball well and were able to find space at stoppages.
With Hamish Wardlaw and Dylan Cowan giving us a slight edge in the ruck, along with their 2nd efforts once the ball spilled helping the mids we were able to get the quick ball from the middle, but the tight checking of the Ormond backs was making it hard for us to kick to clear targets and as such goals were pretty much at a premium.
We spent a lot of time trying to find an avenue to goal and as such there were multiple rotations and changes of personnel in the front half. We tried Tom Still as a more mobile centre half forward, Liam McClusky as a sort of tall forward, Aiden Wood as a marking player, and all did have some small successes, but nothing we could say was going to be the match winning move, because as soon as they had a small win the opposition would counter with another move which would necessitate another change.
A lot of our goals came from pressing hard through our half forwards of Hyland, Lamoutzis, Nicholls and Hanley applying pressure on the Ormond backs, and making sure that the ball stayed for longer periods in our forward half.
At the main break there was a 1 point difference in favour of the away team, but there was belief that the Golds were right in it and with a little more composure and a quick reminder of their roles that the game was there to be won.
The scoreboard didn't actually show it, but the game was always pretty tight and yet by the end of the 3rd it showed that Ormond had skipped out to a 2 goal lead, but even then it never really seemed that great a lead, which was interesting given that there had only been 18 goals scored by the 2 teams across 3 quarters of footy.
The last was in many ways quite different in that Ormond failed to score and the players in the back half must have made a pledge that any score would be a personal affront.
We moved Shredder on ball and as a slightly bigger bodied player he allowed us a little more grunt in the middle and helped the mids clear congestion and give our smaller mids more time and space to get the ball inside our scoring zone.
Wardlaw kicked a goal I am sure he will probably never repeat as he took control from the ball at a boundary throw in and quickly banged it on to his boot and it went high and was taken by the wind, and continued to swerve and keep going goalward eluding all and sundry to get us back within a kick.
From that point on the game seemed to change, the ball seemed to be wedged into our forward half and it Ormond were being pinned back and finding it hard to find space, find free targets and get an easy kick to a player free and able to get the ball up the other end of the ground and get a score back to re-establish their lead.
The forwards were being well served by the runners with Tom Still, Shredder, Anastasio, Mullaly, Agar, Milner and Taranto were getting ball in quick, but also working on stealing the ball back and applying pressure on their opponents so we had plenty of opportunity to kick goals.
As players on both sides tired there was more space and more opportunities for our forwards as the game seemed to open up, but scores were still hard to come by. By the end the game was being played exclusively in the De La forward area, but that may also have been due to the psychological belief of their being a definite scoring end as well as our enthusiasm to keep going.
In the end we had overcome another strong opponent and had won by a goal, in a really high standard game. Sometimes the prevailing wisdom is that tight tussles are not all that great for spectators to watch, but despite it being an 11 goal to 10 game this was a great game to watch. There were one-on-ones, tall marking forwards, hard running midfielders, small forwards and instances and flashes of individual brilliance whether it be a mark, a smother, a tackle or a player running through the lines.
Next week there are more challenges ahead as we face MHSOB, who appear to be on the improve and we will have our hand forced by a couple of injuries, a couple of players going away and players being looked by seniors, players in line for promotion and others coming back from injury.
De La Salle 11.8.74
Ormond 10.8.68
Goal Kickers: T. Nicholls 5, T. Still 2, A. De Luca , O. Milner , J. Hanley , H. Wardlaw
Best Players: C. Akritidis, J. Stewart, H. Wardlaw, S. Taranto, T. Nicholls, A. Munday
Last Modified on 22/06/2014 15:19