Under 18's( Portland v East Gambier ) Although a little slow to slip into gear, Portland, through some classy link-up play, edged out to a narrow lead in the initial skirmishes. J. Bunge was proving a focal point up forward and his clever use of the body resulted in a couple of early goals to the Tigers. Around the packs, Portland had some lively players, with some of the lesser lights such as C. DeVera and K. Outtram being very prominent. All this meant that Portland enjoyed a 10 point lead at the first break.
Portland dominated posession in the early stages of the 2nd quarter but they failed to fully capitalise on this. However, they did enough to keep the scoreboard ticking over and by half-time they had stretched their lead to 31 points in the warmish conditions. The strengthening breeze favoured the end to which East was kicking in the third term and soon enough, they had reduced the deficit by a couple of goals. But the black and golds stood firm and their perserverance was rewarded with some valuable goals against the breeze. In defence H. Saunders, B. Finnigan and A. Symons combined together to form a near impenetrable barrier and, in doing so, they were able to set up many attacking moves.
Entering the home straight, the sea-siders held sway by a healthy 35 points and with the breeze behind them, they attacked the ball with plenty of confidence. East showed plenty of fight but this was Portland's day and they cantered home to a 40 point victory.
Good players abounded in all areas of the ground but mention must be made of the superb running game of Jayden Malseed, the defensive skills of Harry Saunders and the versatility of Jake Wilson. Other noteworthy efforts came from Luke Sartori, Josh Slade, Kyle Shepherd and Tom Rogers.
Final Scores: Portland 15-17 = 107 points East Gambier 11-7 = 73 points
Reserves A sorry day for the Portland Reserves who had surged to a significant lead during the middle stages of the game. But, football is a game of character and in the heated environment of finals in Mount Gambier it was unfortunate that the players in the black and gold didn't measure up when it was required. It was there to be won, but in the final wash-up, whether it was the lack of legs or ticker it means the same on the score-board. Good players were judged to be Jason Saunders, Daniel Kinghorn,Jeremy Reynolds, Beau Bentley, Fred Saunders and Wes Burns.
Final Scores: Portland 11-19=85 points South Gambier 12-19=91 points
Last Modified on 13/09/2009 07:59