Penrith Rams Under 18s showed they will be a force to be reckoned with in 2008 when they recorded a "come from behind" victory against Premier Division team, Western Suburbs Magpies at Picken Oval on Saturday.
The first trial of the year was played in somewhat difficult conditions after fierce thunderstorms hit Sydney the night before the match which kicked off at 9:30 AM.
Despite missing several key players due to other commitments, the Rams dominated the early part of the match but were unable to convert some golden opportunities against the Magpies big backline whilst the home team made the most of theirs to boot three goals to lead comfortably at the first break.
Coaches Kevin Tate and Barry King-Smith made some positional changes at the break which resulted in the boys kicked a double, but some inaccurate kicking resulted in four single pointers whilst their opponents replied with 3.0 to lead at the half time break by twenty.
The Rams went into the third session with renewed confidence and again had the better of play, making inroads against the deficit with another two goals and some great defence saw the Magpies under pressure and restricted to just a single goal but the visitors still found themselves fifteen points in arrears coming into the final stanza.
The team derived the benefit of their tough fitness training over the last five weeks and came out running in the fourth quarter which resulted in a five goal haul and when the siren sounded to call a halt to play, it was a victorious Rams side recording an impressive nine point victory.
There appears to still be a lot of improvement in the team which will broadcast a warning to opposing sides in the 2008 Challenge Cup. Each and every player showed outstanding commitment. The Mountains quartet of Ben Robinson, Lachlan Gippel, Reece Johnson and Andrew Simankowicz stepped up to senior football with ease. Tim Conallin impressed in his first AFL game for three years and ex-Victorian, Danny Seymour, showed he will be a great asset to the side this season. Under 16's player, Matty Payne was awesome in defence whilst the "senior" players Brent Venables, Michael Morgan, Hamish Mulligan, Tayt Corless and Anthony Lewis all led their younger team-mates by example. 2008 Best & Fairest, Brendan Cooke, had his usual outstanding game and is set for a sensational season. Ex-Lions stars, Cameron Jaworski and Mitchell Reinhard were all around the park whilst Kyle McDonagh was solid despite playing with an injury (or two)
The teams match against Wyong on Saturday March 15 has been cancelled and new trial dates are pending.
Penrith Rams 9.11-65 defeated Western Suburbs Magpies 8.8-56
Last Modified on 25/11/2008 06:25
