Round 17 saw Divisions 3 & 4 take on Penrith at Blacktown Olympic Park, whilst Div 2 made the trek to Gore Hill to take on Campbelltown.
Div 4 were hoping for a repeat of their win over the Rams in Round 5, however they came out against a side that hit the ground running and opened up a big halftime lead. To the team’s credit, they did not give up, and matched it with Penrith in the 2nd half. Jeremy Baird continued his brilliant season and was named best on ground, with Luke Walsh also having a great game. Tim Haynes was once again tried to keep it tight down back, with Scott MacLean, Nathan McLean and Jonathon Stott trying hard and getting plenty of possessions in the middle.
Division 3 took on Penrith, and with injuries and unavailability hitting the Div 2 & 3 sides, they fielded a team with a number of players that had to back up from the Division 4 game, making an already tough task that little bit harder. To their credit, the boys dug deep and gave it everything that they could, but with tired legs they were not able to match it with a Penrith side that kept running all game.
Omar Abdualltif was the best on ground with a strong performance in defence, and was well supported by John Mannion, Dean Murray and Shannon Altorjay, who all worked hard with most of the game taking place at their end of the ground. Jason Wilson and Adam Townsend tried to provide drive and worked hard in the middle all day.
At Gore Hill, Division 2 took on Campbelltown looking to regain momentum going into finals. Coach Balz reminded the team of the slow start they made against Campbelltown last time, where the game was in the balance at half time. With this in mind the Goannas came out blazing, and kicked 7 goals to 1 in the first quarter to have the game in their control. They slowed down a bit in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, allowing some easy goals to the opposition, but made sure they finished the game strongly, kicking 8 goals to none to run out with a very convincing win. The team now looks forward to their last game to get themselves fine tuned for finals. Luke Mansbridge was the best on ground with a 9 goal haul up forward. Tom Parsons contributed with 4 goals and plenty of run from half forward, and Peter Zuvela was strong at full forward with 3. Gary Sentence, Anthony Bishop and Trent Whalan were the standouts in a very dominant centre for the team, with plenty of drive forward that kept Campbelltown on the back foot all day.
Last Modified on 20/10/2009 07:21