Match Results
U10's-Gold def by Hills Lions (no scores recorded) Blacktown Olympic Park
U10's-Maroon def Quakers Hill (no scores recorded) Wrights Reserve
U12 White (3) 8.12-60 def Quakers Hill (4) 0.0-0 Wrights Reserve
U12 Black (1) 8.12-60 def Hawkesbury (4) 8.6-54 Bensons Lane
U14 (4) 4.4-28 def by Camden (1) 7.11-53 Harrington Park
U16 (2) 12.8-80 def Razorbacks (1) 9.5-59 Harrington Park
Match Reports
Under 10's Gold
Round 17, the last round for the year saw the team group at Blacktown Olympic Park, on the outside ground. These are the fantastic new facilities that will hopefully in the future host the Sydney West AFL team.
The team were up against the unknown, as our first scheduled outing against the Hills Lions (hey that's our nickname!) was a wash out. The hills lions had a full complement of players and each quarter provided us with one of their sqaud so that both teams were fielding 15. This made the most of the big ground and each team was very well supported from the sideline.
The game became a really tight, low scoring tussle with both teams working very hard in defence. It seemed to be whoever had the luck of the bounce to get into the attacking third first had the run of the quarter.
It remained close right to the end, as can be seen in the quarter breakdowns, 1st quarter us 1 goal 3 behinds to their 2 goals, second quarter, us not scoring and Hills bagging 2 goals, 3rd quarter us with 1 goal and 1 behind and Hills Lions taking their turn at not scoring and then the exciting last quarter had the Hills Lions getting 3 behinds to our 2! End result, Hills 4 goals, 3 behinds - 27 points to our 2 goals 6 behinds - 18 points. I think coach Zea would have loved another couple minutes play as the Emu Lions were still full of running at the end when the final siren sounded. But credit to the Hills team who played well and on the day were able to control some of the Emu Lions attacking flair.
Well done to our 2 goal scorers Shamous and Bailey. Also well done to our "behind" scorers who almost made the difference, a couple instances, Ryan was unlucky from a tight angle right at the end of the 1st quarter and Demi and Bailey just missed 6 pointers through the bounce of the ball going the other way.
Awards on the day went to Shamous, Jordan, Jesse and Oliver. Jordan tried 100 percent all game, took a couple great marks and came in for some close marking from the Hills team. Jesse and Oliver constantly put their bodies on the line and went in hard for the footy all game, both particularly strong in defence. Shamous as he has done all season played a great game.
Thanks to Dallas for playing up from Auskick and again showing a very good skill base, as well as a cool head under pressure. Dallas along with our other Auskick recruit, Shane have been excellent for the Golds this year and will both have big years in the 10's next season. Thanks also to Shane for coming to support the team despite being ruled out through injury.
On behalf of the players and parents, thanks to Coach Zea for all her hard work this season and the fantastic encouragement she gives the team each week. One of the key traits of a good coach is the respect in which they are held by their team, and Zea certainly has the full respect of every single player.
We all look forward to an enjoyable team BBQ day on the 30th of August with the U 10 Maroons, and of course Club Presentation Day on the 20th of Sept!!
Under 14's
It was the last round of the season today and the Lions faced the competition leaders Camden at their home ground. It was always going to be a tough game but the Lions approached the game in a positive manner and reaped the rewards early on in the game. The boys attacked from the first bounce and with everyone giving 100% they were able to establish a 6 point lead at quarter time. The second quarter saw the Lions continue in this vain holding the Blues goalless for the first half and stretching the lead to 16 points at half time. As expected the Blues came out strongly in the third quarter. They managed to outscore the Lions and continued this form through the last quarter kicking 4 goals to record a solid 25 point win.
It was great effort from the Lions this week with Adrian Boelhouwer leading the way providing plenty of run through the middle of the ground including a sensational solo effort taking the ball on the half back line and running through the middle to kick a long range goal. He finished the day with 2 goals. Chris Nolan and Jeremy Rix chipped in with one goal each. Hugh Arnold played the game of his life this week running off the half back line and providing the link for the Lions to move into the forward line. Julian Borg was in great form in the backline attacking the ball and repelling many Camden attacking moves. Stephen Webb and Nathan Milgate were very solid in defense and provided great support. Beau Dingemans played an excellent game in the middle and got the Lions moving forward on many occasions. Blake Langer played an excellent game this week and covered many miles in his efforts to keep the Lions moving forward. Simon Masters continued his fine form with another sold performance. Pat Pope was another to cover a lot of territory and took several important marks in the Lions defensive half. Morgan Pollock played an important game in the ruck and Liam Worth worked hard all day to provide the Lions with an option up forward.
It was an important game for the Lions today and it was great to see them play at 100% for the entire four quarters. The boys did not give up all day and will carry this form into the finals next week.
Awards: Hugh Arnold, Ben Foxall, Simon Masters, Beau Dingemans
Goals: Adrian Boelhouwer 2, Chris Nolan 1, Jeremy Rix 1
Next Game: Hawkesbury v Emu Plains/Glenmore Park
Date: 22 August 2009
Game Time: 12.00pm (be there 11.15am)
Where: Blacktown Olympic Park, Eastern Road, Rooty Hill
Under 16's
Harrington Park on a sunny afternoon was the location for this final round clash with the top of the table Razorbacks. Against a team of 25 Razorbacks (this time with all their stars playing), the Lions were without Dan Kelly (who actually broke his arm in the first quarter last week), Nick Adams (recovering knee) as well as Rick Ooms, Brendan Redcliffe, and Dylan Slater. To bring the Lions up to 23 players we had Adrian Boelhauer, Pat Pope, and Chris Nolan from the Under 14’s. Tim Wade, Paul Devlin and Bob Mitchell took up their regular positions while Dan’s father Tom showed great support by making the trip to continue his role as runner for the team. With coaches Rix and Stevens firing up the team and carefully juggling the 5 man bench, all was set for another epic struggle.
The opening siren saw the Lions win the centre and Ben taking a shot from near the 50m arc to score a point. Shortly after a break through the centre saw Ben kick long to Ash to bring up our first goal. Then the Razorback team was struck down with injury with one of their forwards stretched off the field with a knee injury. After some good footy with the ball travelling between both teams forward lines, Jackson picked up the ball and kicked long to score a great goal. Stunned into action the Razorback team started to click and scored a goal followed by another shortly afterwards. Using their bigger and more aggressive players, the Razorbacks scored another “rolling” goal to take a lead into the first break; 3 – 1 – 19 to the Lions 2 – 3 – 15.
Opening the second quarter, the Razorbacks kicked another goal and the game looked like getting away from the Lions. The young Lions rallied with some pressure on the right centre half forward line, with Alex H. chipping a ball for Ben to mark in front of gaol. Ben kicked his first goal. Ben was in action again when a kick out from the sideline by the Razorbacks saw Ben mark under pressure, play on and run about 10m, steadied and kicked long for a great goal. Following a couple of Razorback goals, some good roving under pressure and determined running saw Hayden kick straight for the Lions to take a slender lead into the long break; 5 – 3 – 33 to 5 – 2 – 32. The Razorbacks were getting frustrated as they started playing the man in a number of contests rather than the ball, although Jackson took it on himself to make sure the Lions would not buckle under such physical pressure.
The second half started well for the Lions with the ball down in half-forward line and Ash taking a shot at goal following a free kick from a high tackle. In a bizarre set of events his kick bounced off the pack in the goal square, was kicked off the ground by a Razorback defender, Ash following his kick through picked up the bouncing ball and calmly put it through the goals. Pressure again mounted in the Lions forward 50 with Ben kicking a ball off the ground soccer style to bring up his third goal. Another goal to Ben saw the Razorbacks rally and score through a snap at goal. But another goal to Ben saw the Razorbacks really get frustrated and they made several changes. In didn’t take long for the Lions to mount more pressure with Blake kicking long to Michael who slotted through a tight angle goal. The Razorbacks tried to rally again and managed to goal before the break. With the umpire huddle in the middle at ¾ time, there was some controversy as the scorers had different scores. It stemmed from the number of shots at goal by the razorbacks being the same but the record of whether there were goals or behinds being different. In the end it was decided that the score saw the Lions in front; 10 – 5 – 65 to the razorbacks 7 – 4 – 46.
The final quarter began with the razorback fans and the players trying to yell their team back into the lead. A goal to them saw their tactics justified but the Lions fought back to silence the crowd with some pressure and a couple of points. Then Jackson kicked long to the left forward pocket for Ben to mark under pressure, who then hand-passed quickly to an unmarked Michael in the goal square to kick a decisive goal. After another goal to the razorbacks, Brayden showed some good handling, ran and bounced into the forward 50 and kicked long for the final goal. The Lions celebrated a hard fought win 12 – 8 – 80 to 9 – 5 – 59.
The Lions were congratulated and the team song rang loud over Harrington Park. Players to be awarded special mentions were Jackson and David, while others to play well were Ben, Martin, Brayden and Adrian. Coaches Rix and Stevens reminded the boys to keep a lid on this win as they now go into a finals series that is going to test them. With some players hopefully to come back into the team to make them even stronger, the Lions took the opening points in what will be probably a series of 3 clashes over 4 weeks. Having one this last round game, we now play the Razorbacks again in the major semi-final at Blacktown Olympic Park next Saturday (under lights – time to be confirmed) with the winner going straight into the grand-final. There is little doubt 2 weeks after that, these two teams will then face off in the decider for the flag. We hopefully look forward to a successful final series.
Paul Hocking
(manager)
Last Modified on 22/08/2009 07:04
