Last Saturday, we had our Under 16 and Reserves football sides compete in a Preliminary Final at Donald. Thanks to the Donald FNHC for putting on a good day.
Our Reserves played the Boort FC and although our efforts were high, we were outclassed by the height and run of the Magpies. Trailing by 20 points at the first break, we were forced into playing catch up footy and went down by 34 points. Jack Thompson gave us plenty of drive, while Matt Noonan also tried to get us back into the game with his creative play. Tyson Watton and Tyson Tauali i both played good games after injury layoffs while Corey Fanning also continued his good form. The Reserves finished 2015 second last, so it’s a huge credit to Coach Jake Lanyon, his players and assistants to make a Preliminary Final. They certainly played some exciting, entertaining footy throughout the year and have certainly gained plenty of respect as a side in 2016.
The Under 16’s played out a thriller against the Donald FC. Trailing by 5 points at the first break, some reminders of the game plan from the Coach got our boys back into gear and a solid second term saw scores level at 5.5 apiece at the main change. Connor Hooper McKenzie was providing a target up forward and his efforts were being rewarded on the scoreboard. Kyle Postlethwaite took some telling defensive marks also while Matt Sarre was busy. The Royals were not going away however and supporters knew this was going to be a close one. The start of the third term saw Trent ’Tiger’ Cossar take an absolute screamer at Centre Half Forward and more importantly, go back and nail the goal. This was the start of five straight majors from the Navies with Nathaniel Holmes Brown, Connor Lee and Jed Thompson among others working hard around the ground. Leading by 22 points at the last break, the Royals again mounted a strong challenge. They kicked four goals for the quarter but a clever goal from Anthony Miller for the Navies held Donald at bay and when the siren sounded our boys were 5 points in front and into a Grand Final.
Last Modified on 12/09/2016 13:01