With a bye due to the National U/18 Trial games in Melbourne, a majority of players got the chance to go back to their respective clubs and showcase their talents back at local level, with a notable performance coming from Andrew Tyler kicking seven goals for the Rupanyup Panthers.
Tuesday’s training session was solid with all boys knowing that it was imperative that we had a good week on the track coming into a season defining game on the weekend against the Sandringham Dragons at coach Chris Maple’s old stamping ground, Ararat. Tuesday’s pre-training talk emphasised the importance of concentrating on our team structure and set targets and not getting ahead of ourselves after the courageous come-from-behind one point win against the tall Murray Bushrangers outfit.
Wednesday night saw another round of the BAS competition with St Patrick’s hosting Ballarat High School. St Patrick’s, with several players out having a rest, easily accounted for the Ballarat High School team with a comfortable win. The other game in the round saw Ballarat and Clarendon College take on Ballarat Grammar. College came out victors on the day with a good performance.
Thursday night’s training session was full of enthusiasm with the extra incentive of the possibility of climbing off the bottom of the ladder and possibly into the top eight with a win. We were privileged enough to have former Hawthorn player and coach Peter Schwab address the squad after our Thursday night dinner. It was only possible to have a person of Peter’s calibre thanks to the hard work of our Regional Manager, Phil Partington. All the boys took a lot out of the talk with Peter underlining the old cliché of taking every opportunity presented to you with two hands.
Sunday morning saw a high percentage of the team travelling down the Western Highway to Ararat, with some boys taking the opportunity to catch up with family and friends back at their old local towns.
Our pre game team meeting was opened to local aspiring footballers and onlookers for an opportunity to see how the Rebels operate with coach Chris Maple stating the set targets and the way we wanted to attack the wet and windy Alexandra Oval.
The first quarter we started of well with our self-confidence high. We squandered the opportunity of going several goals ahead after missing some easy chances in front of goal. Going into the second quarter with a lead, it was critical that we converted every opportunity presented to us. After a freakish goal by Archie Whiting from the boundary, we took a handy lead into the half time break.
Taking advantage of kicking with the wind in the third quarter, we piled on several goals to take a ten goal lead into the last quarter. All the boys fought hard in the last quarter holding off any attack the Dragons threw at us.
A good team effort saw us have a comfortable win by 11 goals. Well done to all the boys and coaching staff. Next week will see us take on the Dandenong Stingrays and hopefully take another four points away from the game to stake a claim for finals footy.
Last Modified on 08/02/2009 16:24