Round 14 Match Reports
Division 2
Mac Uni 11.8.74 beat UTS Bats 10.4.64
Balmy conditions greeted the fourth placed UTS as they travelled out to University Oval to take on the second placed Warriors. With the absence of DK it was up to Deano, Lee and Pete to get the win.
The Bats came out like a team looking to cement its place in the final four and had the first two goals on the board. The Warriors did settle and with Buttercup finding space up forward we started to put on some scoreboard pressure. The first quarter was an even affair with both teams trading goals. If not from some strong defence from Latte the score could have been considerably worse at quarter time with UTS leading 4.1 to 3.2.
The second quarter saw more of the same as neither team could gain the ascendancy. Timmy Scoular and Donnie repelled many an inside 50 for the visitors and Whytey was frequently getting on the end of these rebounding opportunities. Rig was providing another target up forward and kept us in the game with the second of his three goals for the day.
At the long break the Warriors had wrestled back the narrowest of leads and with Ricey and Ackers both forced from the ground with injuries the second half was shaping up as a last man standing affair drawing similarities to their earlier encounter at Trumper Park.
The Mac Uni boys came out strongly after the main break lead by Deano and the recently promoted Gunns. With Buttercup getting double teamed up forward the Warriors needed to find alternate avenues to goal and Disco, with a lovely banana on the run, provided a much needed goal. With a four goal to two quarter, the lead at the final change was stretched to 16 points.
A big last quarter was required and the boys were asked by Deano to lift, and with Astro forced to the bench and Barnesy playing through pain this game was far from over. A real arm wrestle ensued as UTS threw everything at the home team but they refused to falter. With a 3 goal to 2 quarter the Bats had won the quarter but fell 10 points shy of winning the war with the final score reading Mac Uni 11.8–74 to UTS 10.4–64.
Best on Ground: P. Hare, J. Whyte, T. Scoular, D. Ollington, D. Connors, G. Nixon
Division 3
Mac Uni 12.7.79 beat UTS Bats 8.9.57
Glorious conditions greeted the third placed UTS side as they took on the forth placed Warriors at University Oval with both teams looking to cement their position in the top four. The Warriors were also looking to send Summer off on a positive note after strong contributions so far this season.
It was UTS that got off to a flyer kicking the first goal of the day within the first minute and then quickly followed this up with their second. With two goals in 2 minutes the Bats had their tails up and all the momentum. Things got considerably worse for the Warriors when Marshy went down in the centre of the ground with a badly broken arm and the stretcher was called out.
If a positive can be taken from this (sorry Marshy), this incident did take away UTS’s momentum and gave the home time a chance to settle. After the break (no pun intended) the Warriors finally opened their account through a goal to Slime and when he took another grab and kicked truly we were back in the game.
Quarter time scores showed the Bats with a one-point lead 2.3 to 2.2.
The second quarter was in stark contrast to the first as the Warriors came out with all the momentum. Abbs was getting plenty of the ball through the midfield and with JJ was causing plenty of headaches up forward the Warriors finally took the lead. This was extended with some brilliant rebound footy that saw Summer, playing in the back pocket, burst through the centre run inside 50 a kick truly.
The backline was resolute with Jimmy Considine sweeping across the halfback line repelling many a Bat Attack and driving the ball forward. In attack we used the ball well. Slime booted his third and then slotted his forth after some good run through the centre from Salmon and Skinny. Croc too had settled in nicely up forward and contributed 3 goals of his own for the quarter, the third coming after a strong tackle from JJ and Rove capitalising on the advantage. When the captain snapped truly the Warriors had kicked 9 goals for the quarter and went to the long break leading by 34 points.
The second half saw UTS through everything at Mac Uni as they tried to get back into the game. The backline held strong with Considine continuing to get plenty of the ball and Big Kev dropping back into the hole and taking a succession of defensive marks. On the rare occasions that the ball went deeper into defence Stringer was there to repel it. In what turned into a real arm wrestle the Bats kicked the only goal of the quarter and trailed by 29 points at the final break.
With the first 2 goals of the final term UTS were within 4 goals but a steadying goal to Wazza ensured the Warriors ran out 22-point winners.
Best on Ground: J. Considine, J. Farrell, D. Allison, E. O'Reilly, J. Griffiths, K. Jones
Division 4
Mac Uni 11.8.74 beat UTS Bats 4.6.30
Round 14 saw the Warriors at home to the highly fancied UTS bats. After having a week off, the Warriors fronted up with the knowledge that their season was on the line and that they would need all hands on deck to avenge the result from earlier in the season.
The first quarter started brightly as the Warriors started the game with much intensity to match the occasion. And the opening exchanges were all one way as first Stumpy slotted two goals and then Smiley put through a cracker to give us an early 3 goal buffer. The middle stages took place largely between the half back lines as our centre line of Frenchy, Kinky and Nipper worked hard to push us forward. Our backline also fought strongly and despite conceding one goal, we were able to take a 2 goal lead into the first change.
The second quarter was more of an arm wrestle, as the game tightened up and goals became quite hard to come by. Stumpy turned his opponent inside out to slot his third and Sneak drifted off the bench and right into the forward line to kick his first, however these were to be the only scores of the quarter. In the middle of the ground much persistence was being shown by everyone and a heap of pressure was being applied to UTS, meaning that delivery into their forward line was affected. This allowed our backline to continue their miserly ways and restrict the scoring to just 2 behinds for the quarter, allowing us to take a healthy buffer into the long break.
The third quarter was where the game was to be won. The Bats came out firing and started to press forward quite hard, showing us why they are 2nd on the ladder, and although our opponents lifted a notch we did not drop at all, our intensity as strong as at any stage during the match. The Bats continually entered our forward 50, but our backline led by Mick, Will and G Stud did not give them an inch. Lukey and Docker came into game, winning much hard ball around the middle and Griz and Tomi both continued to toil hard in the ruck, winning more contests than they lost. Late in the quarter Coops managed to drift forward and twist a Schneider-esque left foot snap around his body to restore order, and by quarters end we had managed to extend our lead, with the highlight being our backlines achievement in keeping them goalless once again.
The last quarter opened in style, and so did the floodgates, as the Warriors put the Bats to the sword. While the first three quarters saw only 6 goals in total, the Warriors piled in another 5 in the first ten minutes, as Dunc, Docker and Goo all kicked their first for the afternoon. Stumpy raised the bat after kicking his 50th for the year and 5th for the day and at that stage the margin had blown out to a whopping 63 points. From this point it was just a matter of playing out time and despite conceding a couple of late goals we were able to run out convincing 44 point winners, in what would have to be our best win of the season so far.
Best on Ground: B. Heard, G. Stodulka, P. Le Breton, D. Moore, M. Wilcox, N. Nath
U18 Challenge Cup
Mac Uni 3.10.28 lost to Pennant Hills Demons 9.10.64
Saturday saw us at home again and this week we were up against Pennant Hills. Starting in dewy, slippery conditions we were out played early and found the going tough.
Tim Anderson led the way in the first half with his attack on the footy and gathered plenty of touches. Half time saw us down by 33 points and with Noney injured we changed things around and swung the changes that saw us go out and have more scoring shots in the 3rd quarter than Pennant Hills but we were unable to make them count on the scoreboard. Adam (Napoleon) Brockway was attacking the ball with vigour and Peter Frost and Andy Mckinnon were doing the unrewarded team things with their tackling and chasing.
The last quarter saw Penno step it up a gear as they kicked 4.4 to our 2.2 but the pleasing thing was we created more chances than them in the 2nd half. Mark Bishop after changing to the backline in the 2nd half tried hard while Kyle Morkel worked his way into the game well to have one of his best games for the season but it was not enough and saw us go down by 6 goals. A great 2nd half performance by the boys considering the opposition but we need this effort for 4 quarters.
Best on Ground: T. Anderson, A. Brockway, P. Frost, M. Bishop, A. McKinnon, K. Morkel
Last Modified on 22/07/2009 08:36