Round 17 Match Reports
Division 2
Mac Uni 11.9.75 lost to Southern Power 11.10.76
The Warriors ventured down south to take on undefeated ladder leaders Southern Power in an eagerly awaited top of the table clash.
As per usual we had a number of changes from the previous weeks game with most due to injury however were quietly confident of causing Southern Power a few problems and even causing the upset of the year in Div 2.
The first half was extremely encouraging to all the players as going into the sheds only a few points down the belief that we could compete against the Power on their home deck without a number of first choice players. Early on great goals to Mick Twohig and Scotty Cations from tight angles provided highlights whilst Jerome Farrell, Cameron Inchley & Donnie Ollington were accountable and effective on turnover.
CHF Simon Lawrenson was also playing his best game all year with strong leading and contested marks a highlight.
Congratulations to the Southern Power FF who kicked his 100th goal for the year and got a well deserved crowd invasion in the 2nd quarter.
Captain Carter Mullins was leading from the front again with some strong rebounding off Half Back and even did a reverse Michael Jackson after a play in the dirt much to the Magoos amusement.
With Troy McMurrich and Kev Jones providing a great tag team ruck combination the onballers found more clean ball than expected with Dean Connors, Gavin Nixon and Dylan Brogan finding their fair share not only at stoppages but around the ground.
A goal to the Southern Power after the siren to end a long 3rd quarter enabled the Power to take a slender lead heading into the last quarter.
A couple of early goals saw the Warriors hit the lead and a big upset was on the cards. However it wasn't to be with the Power fighting back hard and pipping us by 1 point when the final siren sounded.
The Warriors gathered in the middle of the ground after the final siren knowing the belief was now there and that an exciting finals series now awaits them.
Credit to both teams as it was a game of the highest standard with many comments from both sides about the physicality, intensity and pure entertainment value.
The Warriors now face Balmain at home this Saturday night commencing at 6.10pm in our final match of the home and away rounds.
Best on Ground: D. Connors, S. Lawrenson, P. Jackson, S. Cations, C. Inchley, C. Mullins
Division 3
Mac Uni 8.7.55 lost to Southern Power 11.7.73
MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY
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2.2
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4.4
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6.5
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8.7-55
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SOUTHERN POWER
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2.3
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5.4
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10.7
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11.7-73
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Goal Kickers: S. Uglow 2, D. Avery 2, J. Moylan, B. Heard, D. Leonard, N. Jackson
Best Players: D. Avery, P. Sobb, D. Allison, P. Hyndman, D. Leonard, J. Griffiths
Writing a match report is fun, particularly when the team has a win. When we are on the receiving end of a loss, or even worse, a bad loss putting pen to paper becomes increasing harder. The best players are listed above and yes they did play well.
I have also listed those who were able to slot through the majors in what was a low scoring encounter (despite the warm conditions and a fast track). Thanks to those guys as well.
Unfortunately that is about all that I have. I think this is what they call “writers block”??
Yes, there were some moments of individual brilliance that brought a half smile to the face of the coaching team but those moments aside if we were going to nominate the best team players on the day the Southern Sharks team list would be the first one we reached for.
Where is the team that pushed both UNSW and Nor-West to the wire? The team that kicked 9 goals in a quarter against UTS (a game they went on to win by 22-points)? The team that has earned a right to be playing finals football and not just there making up the numbers?
The answer:
That team is still there. In actual fact that team is here. That team is probably a majority of you boys that are reading this right now. That team is the guys that you have been running around at training in the rain with, drinking frothies at the Epping with, celebrating those wins with. The time has come to either realise that this is the case or you might as well jump online and see if you can lock in a quick end of season ski at Thredbo because we are going to have some free time on the weekend after the first week of finals.
This pains me to write; perhaps it was better to settle for the writer’s block that was kicking in earlier because that was certainly the easier option. And if I thought this Club was about taking the easy option then I sure as hell wouldn’t be writing this because there are lift passes to organise.
Don’t think for a second that either Lee or I are absolved of responsibility either. I for one can say that I have turned up to a couple of games this year without “my head on” and I apologise sincerely to you guys for this.
But the time for pointing the finger is over, the time for saying “I did this” or “he didn’t do that” are behind us. The time now is what WE can do, what WE can do as individuals, and even more importantly what WE can do as a team.
We’re not going to get fitter over the next couple of weeks; we’re not going to get more skilful either. What we can do is change our attitude, how we feel about the game, how we feel about our mates, how we feel about the club, and most importantly how we feel about ourselves.
Because there is nothing more painful than letting yourself down.
Best on Ground: D. Avery, P. Sobb, D. Allison, P. Hyndman, D. Leonard, J. Griffiths
Division 4
Mac Uni 10.7.67 lost to UNSW/ES 10.16.76
Round 17 saw the Warriors out at Village Green for a rematch against the UNSW/ES Bulldogs. After a disappointing result in their previous meeting, everyone was keen to put in a much better showing second time around, with the hope of gaining some sweet revenge.
The first quarter started strongly and it was clear that we had turned up to play. Despite conceding a goal inside the first minute, the tide quickly turned, as goals to Dunc and Stumpy put us in the lead. The free flowing nature of the game meant that there were many scoring opportunities, and the goals continued to flow from both sides. With Julz and Koshy giving great rebound off half back and Coops giving some great run out of the midfield we were able to gain the upper hand, and went into the sheds with a narrow lead at the first break.
The second quarter was much the same as the first, with nothing really separating the two sides. Tomi was starting to win plenty of taps however, and with Sticks, Wazza and Jockey winning their respective battles in the middle, things were starting to look up. An increase in intensity from our boys saw us press forward many times however we just could not quite put the score on the board. A couple of goals to the Bulldogs saw them take the lead late in the half and they kept it until the main break, with a slight margin of 11 points separating the sides.
The third quarter was another bruising encounter, and despite having all the momentum we could not quite find our way to the big sticks. A goal against the run of play to the Bulldogs saw them open up a handy 3 goal lead but this seemed to spark us into action. Goldy nailed a goal from long range to cut the margin back to two straight kicks, before Andy drifted down from defence to mark inside kicking range. His subsequent goal (and celebration) fired the boys up and put us within 5 points going into the final quarter.
Once again we had a tense final quarter on our hands, and after losing 2 close games in the previous weeks, the boys were determined to get the job done. An early goal saw us snatch the lead for the first time since the second quarter and with a bit of momentum, the game was within our grasp. However UNSW?ES managed to find something extra and kick away and record a 9 point win. Despite the result everyone had a crack and gave it everything, unfortunately we were just off the money again.
Best on Ground: P. Cooper, J. Beaman, J. Hardman, W. Lal, T. Kallio, P. Leaney
U18 Challenge Cup
Mac Uni 4.2.26 lost to Southern Power 16.15.111
Our last away game saw us travel to the shire on what was a cracking day weather wise.
After being thin on numbers on Thursday night we managed to get a team together and managed to come out and play our best 1st quarter for the season. What was more pleasing it was against a side who will fight it out for the flag.
With a real sustained effort at winning the ball in tight with good ball movement, it allowed Tim and Diesel to give us drive out of the backline and at quarter time we were down by 4 points.
The 2nd quarter saw us continue with our attack on the ball with Belly working hard through the middle and Adam giving plenty of run off halfback but the Power had managed to kick away to a 6 goal lead at halftime.
The 3rd quarter saw Josh move into the ruck and have the best quarter he has played this year and with Pooley becoming more involved we were going to fight this one out. Unfortunately the Power kicked away with some good running football in the last and we were unable to go with them.
Andy had a good 4 quarter effort and Taylor kicked 2 goals from limited opportunities in a game that saw us go down by 85.
Best on Ground: T. Anderson, J. Bell, T. Morris, J. Noney, A. McKinnon, C. Poole
Last Modified on 18/08/2009 12:32