Division 1
Mac Uni Warriors 14.10.94 defeated Sydney Uni 7.3.45
The Warriors took on the 3rd placed Sydney University at Mahoney Park, Marrickville in perfect conditions. We had prepared and selected a side for wet weather and were greeted by sun and a dry pitch.
This game was the 2nd of a big 3 weeks for the young Warriors who fell 19 points short the week before against UTS and now faced Sydney Uni who had won 6 straight games.
Sydney Uni were first on the board which was a trend that would continue over the next 3 quarters and applied some early pressure to our backline. Once we found the ball it was clear that our midfield of Brett Harland, Dean Connors and Brad Moore had all come to play and the forward line started to see the results of their good work up the ground.
Josh Murphy playing in the forward pocket had his best game for the year and kicked 2 early goals whilst another to play well in the forward line was Mick Twohig who had one of his best for the year and finished with 3 goals for the day.
It was 3 goals to 1 at quarter time and the side were keen to keep applying the defensive pressure to Sydney Uni. The 2nd quarter was our best and after kicking 6 goals to 2 it was a happy half time Warriors shed. Scott Cations was finding plenty up forward whilst James Brackin led and tackled extremely well.
The 2nd half was really goal for goal with the Warriors kicking 5 goals to Sydney Uni’s 4 and pushing the margin out to 49 points when the final siren sounded. A pleasing result against the 3rd placed side and if we had kicked one more goal we would have taken 3rd spot on percentage.
The Warriors now take on the undefeated Manly on Saturday afternoon at 5.10pm with 2’s taking on Penno and 3’s UTS whilst the 4ths are away to the undefeated Auburn.
Go Warriors and Kookas!
Best on Ground: Dean Connors, James Brackin, Scott Cations, Brett Harland, Carter Mullins, Phil Hare
Division 3
Mac Uni Warriors 13.12.90 defeated Sydney Uni 6.10.46
The Warriors took on 2nd last placed Sydney University at Mahoney Park, Marrickville in wet heavy conditions. Although preparation the week prior wasn’t ideal because of wet weather Mahoney had stood up well and the boys were keen.
With a Sydney Uni side straight off the basket ball court the smaller nippier warriors took control from the first siren. Big Bad Baz was a focal point down forward and together with Sully bring it to ground for Benji the 2 B’s ended up with 2 each for the first with a far share of ball getting around to Back’s and Centre’s to give all in sundry a good warm up. Special mention needs to go to Fabs and probably the pass of the season so far. 30 out dead in front and a pass to a position that only Ackers would be able to snap from 40 meters away in the pocket to Benji.
The second saw more of the same with delivery into the forward line a plenty and Guns, Buster, Jism and Jacko finding some penetrating run out of the backs and hard into Sully and Fabs. Hobbo was leading the way with aggressive ball attack after his 5 minutes rest 5 min in to the first and Bubs wasn’t to be beaten as the back line stood firm.
At the major break the Warriors found them selves up by a couple and feeling confident, only one injury so late into the game had the boys fresh and ready to spank another Sydney Uni side as only Sydney Uni deserve to be spanked.
The third saw Sydney come out a little harder which saw Buster, Wazza, Bish and Gunns push back even harder. Fabs was having a great return to the paddock and the back line saw nothing but ball in their sight’s, except for Hobbo who saw a lot of blood and a few stitches as well, the work he had done the 1 ½ quarters prior had set the standard for the rest of the backline for the rest of the day and so he came off for another longer break.
Pooleys foot turned gimp and Bishes corked thigh didn’t help and into the last break the bench was down to None.
The last saw the boys decide to take a stand a nut out what they new was going to be a hard slog in the last, Baz kicked another 2 to end up with 4 for the day, Fabs decided not to do the team thing again and slotted 1 and sully with 2 were the notables. Bubs didn’t get beat all day, Griz showed some gut churning run with second efforts, Frenchy showed rewoildt type courage backing in for marks, buster and Gunns were rocks and the backs went hard all day. With Potsy, Jiz and Jacko showing up the taller Uni side for the snails they were the warriors ran out convincing winners with only 1 member of the side to take centre spot for the song.
Well done boys, Still a lot to improve on but we will get there.
Go Warriors and Kookas!
Best on Ground: Bubs, Buster, Guns, Sully, Baz,
Division 4
Mac Uni Warriors 7.10.52 defeated by Nor West Jets 8.5.53
After a week of solid rain we were finally given the green light for our match at Bensons Lane against the Nor-West Jets. This team is always a formidable opposition on their home turf so we were going to need to turn it on to take home the points.
The first quarter started well with us grabbing the ball straight out of the middle and applying some early pressure. After 2 minutes, Burkey took a strong grab and handballed off to Dave Munday out the back who swung onto his right from fifty and slotted through our first. But from here, the quarter and the match would develop into a tight arm wrestle. Despite having most of the play we were unable to convert with the Nor-West half back line proving to be most resolute. When they did attack our goal, Ben Chapman and Ben Stork both held strong and rebounded with style to clear us from danger. We were able to enter the first break with a one point lead.
The second quarter began with much the same style of footy, and it was clear that this game was going to be a dogged scrap right until the end, with neither team giving an inch. Pup was giving good drive from the middle of the ground and our defence continued to stand up, only conceding one goal for the quarter to keep the Jets at bay. We managed to add a further two goals to our tally and went in to the long change with a 7 point lead.
The third quarter has been one of our biggest strengths this season, but ironically it proved to be our undoing in this game, and the only quarter of the game that we lost. Things started evenly but towards the end of the quarter Nor-West managed to gain the ascendency and peppered our goal. Full credit to Eamonn Byrne who managed to nullify his opponent completely at full back, getting a spoil to the ball at every contest. But this was not enough to stop Nor-West enjoying their most fruitful period of the game, slamming through three quick goals to grab the lead, and the momentum, going into the final term.
The last quarter was going to require a big effort from the boys, but the signs were not good early as Nor-West continued their momentum from the third term. A couple of quick goals saw them jump out to a 14 point lead and it was going to take something special to salvage this one. But to our boys credit they kept fighting and almost managed to pull off a remarkable victory. Dave Munday and Rooster kicked goals to leave us 7 points down and then Butch dragged in a grab in the final minute and converted to put us one point down. But straight after the ball went up in the middle the siren sounded and we were short by the narrowest of margins.
Best on Ground: Ben Chapman, Matt Bourke, Eamonn Byrne, Dave Munday, Ben Stork, Chris Hayes
Division 4
Mac Uni Kookas 8.5.53 defeated UTS 7.7.49
Following an uncountable number of ground changes the informed Kookas lined up against UTS for a massive home game clash, that was actually played way out in Campbelltown on the large Monarch Oval.
After a couple weeks without a game and number of intensive training sessions including boot camp, circuit work, spin and boxing the Kookas were toey for some football.
For the Kookas, the attitude in the sheds pre-match was on par with their standard high level of intensity and focus which translated to the field from the first siren.
The agility, speed and fitness of the Kookas was their clear advantage as they moved the ball fast down to their attacking fifty time and time again resulting in five goals during the first term.
Andrew Kent played a notable quarter converting three times with one of the goals being scored off a massive punt from 70 meters out.
Without a runner, the Kookas limited bench rotations to a quarter by quarter deal.
Geoff Perez who was one of the four players to experience a 22 minutes rest on the timber made up for it in the second. With perfect field positioning in the second, Perez played an impressive role clocking up no less than 12 touches for the quarter.
The strength of the Kookas backline with the additional input from big ruckman Tomi Killio (who plays a smart ‘kick behind play’ game) allowed the margin to be stretched out to five goals in favour of the Kookas by half time.
Rowan Pryor was also presenting well at full forward by racking up four goals for the game.
In the third period the Kookas made some experimental changes to the side due to a few injury concerns.
While the Kookas continued to apply pressure it was clear that UTS had finally woken up, as they moved to strengthen their backline. This move was effective for creating turnovers for UTS across the halfback however it failed to make a dramatic impact on the scoreboard as their forward line was now lacking kicking prowess.
As a light sprinkle of rain started to come down the game become increasingly scrappy and the Kookas missed a couple opportunities to put another major on the board.
After a spray at three quarter time the Kookas took a four goal lead into the final term which was just enough for the Kookas to hold on for a four point win by the final siren.
Best on Ground: Andrew Kent, Rowan Pryor, Tomi Kallio, Tom O Neil, Geoff Perez, Chris Day.
U18 Challenge Cup
Mac Uni Warriors versus Manly Wolves
Postphoned
Best on Ground: NA
Last Modified on 09/07/2010 12:52