U 10 Maroon def St Clair (No scores recorded)
U 10 Gold 29 def Penrith Swans 24
U 12 White (2) 9.6-60 def Hawkesbury (8) 0.0-0
U 12 Black (1) 8.14-62 def Quakers Hill (6) 0.2-2
U 14 (4) 5.5-35 def Hawkesbury (3) 4.9-33
U 16 (2) 14.16-100 def Nor-West Eagles (3) 6.10-46
Match Reports
Under 10's Gold
Round 12 saw the U 10 Golds back at home after 3 games on the road. We were playing the older Penrith Swans team. The result last time was well in their favour BUT not this time. In probably the toughest contest most of the young Lions have ever been in they prevailed to take out the match 29 - 24. The low score was indicative of just how tough a game it was. The Penrith team have some older, bigger players but as a very proud Coach Zeaona said to the team at the end after a loudly sung club song, "You outskilled them today and never gave up". Jason Ware who with Paul Foxall have been our runners all season also summed it up well by saying to the group that we won by "playing as team".
It was a fantastic team effort led all game by captian for the day Blake who also took out player of the match honours. Blake as one of our many 8 year olds never shied from the ball against much bigger opposition, taking some knocks in the process. He was extremely well supported by Jessie who revelled in the tough contest and went in hard for the ball all game. So much so that he came in for some double teaming marking by some of the swans players towards the end of the game.
The game was overall played in a hard but fair way and credit also to the 1 or 2 Lions players who each quarter went and played for the Swans team. They tried their best and were great sports and this also ensured the close result at the end.
Well done again team. We love supporting you each week. Thanks also to Paul Hocking who took the time to come down before the game to take our team photos.
Don't forget to get info at training this week about our involvement with the the U 10 Maroons in the Gala Day at the new Blacktown AFL Ground this Saturday. The day will also include games involving state U 16 teams in the National championships so should be worthwhile being part of. The club is still getting further info so please also check the web site for further updates.
Under 12's Black
This week the Lions played Quakers Hill under sunny skies at Wrights Reserve, minus James Jackson, Josh King & Murray Smith. Hayden Perry stepped up from the U10’s & Nicholas Hocking from U12 white to give the Lions 2 players on the interchange.
The Lions were soon on the scoreboard with the opening goal from Jake Stevens, who nearly found himself with 2 from 2 however his shot just missed to the right. With further goals to Lachlan Corbett & Joel Walsh the Lions were doing all of the attacking and could have put this game to bed by quarter time, however 8 behinds for the quarter left the door open for the Bombers.
¼ time: Lions 3.8.26 to Bombers 0.2.2
With Jesse Grazotis playing a blinder, Jack Noble providing plenty of drive from centre half back and Joel Walsh controlling the centre of the ground the Lions were provided with plenty of scoring opportunities during the second quarter. Some strong work from Bryony Corless saw her boot 2 goals, with goals also scored by Tyler Robinson, Brayden Saint Barry & another one by Joel. With another seven behinds for the quarter the Lions had managed to win the game via the mercy rule.
½ time: Lions 8.15.63 to Bombers 0.2.2
To both team’s credit the second half was played with the same amount of spirit & determination as the first, with the Lions booting another 10 goals for the game to run out winning 18.24.132 to Bombers 0.2.2
This week there were no awards given out as a great game was played by all, however the team will share in the Krispy Kreme award at training this week. (Team Manager included)
Goals: Joel Walsh 5, Bryony Corless 3, Lachlan Corbett 2, Brayden Saint-Barry 2, Mitchell Andrews, Jack Noble, Tyler Robinson, Jake Stevens, Hayden Perry & Nicholas Hocking 1 each.
Next game: v St. Clair (Time & Venue TBA)
Under 14's
The Lions travelled to Bensons Lane this week to take on the Hawkesbury Saints again, with the memory of their last encounter clear in their minds. It was evident very early that the Lions were determined to improve on their last performance.
The Lions were short of numbers this week and things only got worse when Jeremy Hardy was injured in the first quarter. Unfortunately Jeremy has a broken wrist and will be missing for several weeks. We wish Jeremy a speedy recovery.
However the young Lions were not going to let these setbacks ruin their day. Blake Langer started the game well and continued for the full 4 quarters today. Morgan Pollock played an outstanding game in the ruck and was very effective all over the ground. Jeremy Rix also played well today and gave the Lions first use of the ball. Chris Nolan led the backline today and was assisted by Markus McDonagh who fought hard all day and Hugh Arnold who played a great defensive game. Liam Worth and Nathan Milgate also put in a solid effort today. Jake Jeffreys-Brown was all over the place making several tackles resulting in a turnover. Ben Foxall played well up forward today and Beau Dingemans worked hard around the ground and played in various positions and did well in all of them. Simon Masters played an excellent game on the wing today and repeatedly sent the Lions into attack and provided the link into the forward line. Wil Arnold did a similar job on the other wing. Pat Pope was excellent again this week and Adrian Boelhouwer played a solid game all day with a touch of brilliance here and there.
It was a close game all day with only 1 point the difference at half time, 5 points at the end of the 3rd quarter and it was set for an exciting last quarter. The Lions had the chance to prove to themselves what they are capable of. All the Lions tried hard all day, right to the final siren and were rewarded with a 2 point win.
Awards: Blake Langer, Simon Masters, Morgan Pollock, Jake Jeffreys-Brown
Goals: Adrian Boelhouwer 2, Pat Pope1, Chris Nolan 1
There has been a change of game time for this weekend:
Next Game: Penrith v Emu Plains/Glenmore Park
Date: 11 July 2009
Game Time: 9.00am (be there 8.30am)
Where: Greygums Oval, Mount Pleasant
Under 16's by Paul Hocking
While enjoying some of the best weather in months, the Lions faced up to the 3rd on the ladder Norwest Eagles on their home turf, Wrights Reserve. Jackson Swarbrick was unavailable due to the newly installed set of “teeth strengtheners” so without a custom designed mouthguard, he put in a team effort by donning the yellow jumper to assist the evergreen Bob Mitchell. Jordan Campbell and Mark Myhill were also unavailable, but in the familiar roles were Tim Wade as the best flag waver in the greater west and Paul (Superman) Devlin as the effortless “boundary rider”. Coaches Stevens and Rix waited to the last minute to finalise the side due to a few late arrivals, while this manager finally found the award certificates that have been promised to so many…
Probably due to the fact that the Eagles had been warming up for over 45minutes while the Lions only found their whole team when the umpires called them together, the Lions again started slow allowing the Eagles to get the first 2 goals on the board. Mind you, the Lions weren’t getting the rub of the green with the officials with these goals coming from free kicks in contests for the ball. Finally with some ball in our half forward line, Dan Kelly gave a great handpass which led to Ben McGovern’s first goal. Then finally playing in front, Ben won a penalty and drove the ball deep into attack for a great mark to Rick Ooms who easily goaled. Dylan was having a wow of a game in centre and at times singlehandedly kept the ball in the Lions attacking half of the ground. Brendan was brought to the ground after a kick and won a free kick downfield for Rick to score his second goal. However the Eagles finished the quarter strongly to goal and take the lead: 3 – 2 – 20 to 3 – 0 – 18.
For the start of the second quarter, Coaches Rix and Stevens emphasised having rovers to the front and behind the marking contests as the wind was causing some havoc with the kick passes. However, the Eagles players handled the conditions better and goaled first. With the wind favouring the Lions attack and with some pressure from some of our bigger players, Brayden snapped his first goal of the game to keep the Eagles in check. Then in a great long kick with the wind, Dylan kicked from outside 50 meters to score a deserved goal. Rick snapped another goal so the Lions went to the long break in front; 6 – 4 – 40 to 4 – 6 – 30.
Running into the wind for the third quarter the Lions started well with Ben getting another free kick. He bombed deep into the Lions forward line for Nick Adams to take a screamer of a mark. Nick’s goal may have started the downfall of the Eagles. Now the coaches don’t get a lot of credit for much these days but coaches Rix and Stevens took the credit for this next great move. Out of the master-coaching manual, Rick Ooms was rested and Michael Kerr came off the bench and was moved down to the forward pocket. About 30 seconds after he got there, he took a long pass from a break down the wing to score a decisive goal. From the next centre bounce the ball made its way to in front of the Lions goals. Again Michael made his way to the ball first and snapped over his shoulder for another goal. After 2 goals in two minutes you would have thought that the coaches had kicked these themselves. With Tom Noble, Sam and James Devlin, and big Shaun Stevens in defence, the Eagles missed opportunities and went to the final break 9 – 6 – 60 to 5 – 9 – 39 behind. The “difficult quarter” into the wind had been won by the Lions and it was just a matter of ramming the advantage home!
With the ball spending most of the 4th quarter in the Lions attacking half, the score could have been anything – if they kicked straight. Unfortunately with the goals wide open, the Lions missed the big sticks – a lot! They did score some great goals though, with the long 50 metre kicks of Nick Adams and Brayden Wilson memorable highlights. Dave L. bombed long to the pocket for Rick Ooms to mark, however Rick’s kick just wobbled through the goals. Pressure mounted constantly for the Eagles, especially in trying to get the ball out of their back 50. Under this pressure, Michael Kerr snapped his 3rd goal and David L scored a good goal himself. The Eagles managed a consolation goal but their good players finally ran out of puff as the Lions blazed away for 10 behinds in the final quarter! The Lions won going away in a canter, 16 – 14 – 100 points to 6 – 10 – 47.
Again there were a lot of good players for the Lions who probably could have all scored awards. However, the Dominoes award went to Dylan Slater-Liehr while Alex Wade will be taking his parents to Krispy Kremes for a Latte and glazed doughnut. Other players to score special mentions were Brayden Wilson, Brendan Redcliffe, David Looyscheider, and Nicholas Adams. Again it was pleasing from the coaches’ point of view, that these young Lions have now won the last quarters and their games in these “big” games – something they couldn’t do at the start of the season. We now move to our “new” “temporary” home ground of Shaw Park in Cambridge Park for our clash against the improving St Clair Crows.
Last Modified on 07/03/2010 08:34