Seniors - Tocumwal travelled up the highway to visit arch rivals Finley on Saturday night to play off for the Kelly Cup. It was a cool night with clear skies and Tocumwal were looking to continue the recent good form against a struggling Finley side.
The tone was set from the very first bounce with Tocumwal bursting out of the centre, kicking long where Ben Shiels picked up from where he left off last week marking strongly and kicking truly for the first major of the game.
Finley had no answer to Tocumwal's attack on the ball with Lee Warnett and Jarrod Kelly dominating possessions in the middle. The main avenue to goals was through Sean Logie whose skill with the ball and ability to find space created headaches for the Finley defence. By the end of the first term Tocumwal had slammed on 10 goals, with Finley hardly managing a kick into their forward line.
The second term was an exact repeat of the first quarter with Tocumwal's dominance in the middle setting up easy passages to goal through Sean Logie, Ben Shiels and Matthew Robertson. Finley took on board what the coach had to say at quarter time and looked more intent on getting their hands on the ball. However as much as they tried Tocumwal's back line proved almost impregnable with Anthony Mellington standing fast and cutting any avenue to goal. Jeremy Cardillo and Ash Crawford popped up in the forward line gathering possessions and kicking goals as Tocumwal went to the major break having kicked 20 goals in the first half.
Tocumwal could've been forgiven for slacking off in the second half, however their intensity was as good after the break as it was at the beginning of the game. Our dominance in the middle continued with Sean Logie and Lee Warnett getting multiple possessions and setting up goals for Shiels, Robertson or kicking them themselves. The margin enabled Coach Roe to rest some players who would normally play out the whole match. This meant good game time to those on the bench with everybody pitching in for a great team effort.
The last quarter was more like a training drill; however the intensity remained the same. Shiels, Hare and White were rested on the bench with Ben kicking 8 majors, following up from the 10 kicked the week before. The highlight of the last quarter was Matt Robertson taking a mark in the back pocket before playing on and taking multiple bounces down the grandstand side wing evading desperate Finley players before kicking to the top of the square for an easy mark to be taken and a goal kicked. Sean Logie was judged best on ground by his fellow players; however any of the 21 would have been a worthy recipient.
Reserves - The boys flew out of the blocks against Finley scoring 5 goals to 1 to record their first win of the season.
Look what happens in football when you put pressure on your opponents, they result in turnovers and turnovers create opportunities for goals. They continued to apply pressure for the other 3 quarters and came away with a good win. Some great rebounding from half back by Bob Bourke, Matt McWhinney and Co to set up scoring opportunities but the boys were unable to convert.
Matty Harper - What a great display of football to come away with BOG.
Also a solid effort by Jesse Knight, Rob Kemp, Shaun Finnigan and Tim Brunskill.
The boys had no passengers and to come away with a good win like that should give them confidence for today's game against Deniliquin. Keep up the good work!
U 17's - After starting at 2.45pm under blazing sunshine the boys came out as keen as mustard to beat their arch rivals Finley. After winning the toss Mathew Soule had some great defensive play in the opening minutes. The defence was under pressure from the beginning with Finley kicking 2 quick goals. Good effort by Keiran Andrew in defence by tackling and marking strongly. Liam Dakin rushed a behind. Jordan Haynes rucked well but the Finley boys were too strong in the air. Jake McCallum took some strong marks. Chris Patten took marks in the last line of defence. Our forwards had a very quiet time as the scoreboard showed.
In the second quarter the defence was again under pressure. Ashley Pollard kicked a 50 metre goal to get the ball rolling. Keiran Andrew doing heaps in the defence area. Dean Keleher kicked a goal from a free kick, a better quarter from all players.
In the third quarter, Liam Dakin, Keiran Andrew and Ashley Pollard were trying really hard. A great goal kicked off the ground by one of our young brigade in Tristam (Trippa) May. Jordan Haynes did well in the ruck and was swapped with Mathew Soule. A little more action in our forward line this quarter.
Unfortunately for our boys the last 10 minutes was one way traffic but to the boy's credit they didn't give up, they kept on trying which is encouraging for the coach and supporters.
U 14's - Tocumwal got off to a great start in the 1st quarter, holding their own with only two goals scored against them.
The 2nd quarter was much the same with Jess Koopman kicking two goals to keep the Toc boys in with a chance. Billy Andrew tackled hard all game with good back up from Jesse Baldwin and Josie Hyde.
The 3rd quarter saw us flag behind; we need to play more one on one as Finley created plenty of loose players in the forward line. Bryce Meloury had good passages as did Harley Lucas up front with Andrew Norgate unlucky to not score a goal.
We battled hard till half time but Finley ran away in the 3rd. Good effort though guys. We'll get them on the return trip. Quote of the match: "Do you reckon you could award us a freebie umpy" - thank you again Umpy.
We welcome Deniliquin to our ground and facilities today. Let's celebrate tonight with a few wins.
