Owing to the draw our under 18's and First Division sides made the trek down to Rogers Park Woy Woy, while First Grade were at Hylton-Moore Oval for the clash against the competition leaders, Terrigal-Avoca.
It was a goal fest in the under 18's match against Woy Woy, all one way traffic with eleven names appearing on the goal scorer's sheet. The boys were winning it out of the middle and kicking goals with what seemed like regular ease. There was not much for the backline to do but stand and watch. An eleven goal to nil first quarter set up the foundation for a huge score. The scoreboard at the conclusion of the match read 302 to nil. To Woy Woy's credit they never gave up trying. Aaron Pisani, Dale Reader, Shane Penny, Mitch Logan and Matty Wehl all had strong games.
It was a different result in the First Division match with a disrupted preparation owing to last minute changes to the First Grade side. The boys couldn't put it together in the first half and weren't able to post a goal until the third quarter. The game was well and truly decided by half time with Woy Woy kicking eleven majors to nil at the main break. The boys came out for the second half with renewed vigor and the second half was an evenly contested affair. Kris Clouten was moved to fullback and did a good job of shutting down his opponent. With a lot of new faces in the side and a new coaching team, the boys are still feeling their way.
Over to Hylton-Moore for our clash against Terrigal-Avoca in the Black Diamond Cup. With us being the newcomers to the competition and yet to put a win on the board and Terrigal-Avoca the competition leaders, our opponents could have been forgiven for thinking this clash would be a walk in the park. We had nothing to lose and plenty to prove.
The boys were at it from the first bounce, kicking the first goal of the match and continuing to pepper their forward line taking it right up to our more experienced and fancied opponents. I would have liked to have been in the Terrigal huddle at the first break as they would have known that they were in for a match with only one goal the difference.
Defence was the key for us continually pressuring our opponents with ferocious, hard tackling. The match continued in a similar vein with the Terrigal backline having to work overtime and their forwards were continually being put under plenty of pressure. The game was ours for the taking with only three goals separating the sides at the last break.
Unfortunately we couldn't hold them in the last quarter with the final scoreboard not a true reflection as to the closeness of the match. The boys showed plenty of resolve and continue to improve week by week and should have a lot of sides taking a good hard look at us.
With everyone contributing it is difficult to single guys out for a mention. Jayson Melrose put his hand up to do the job on Goolagong and didn't let us down. Nick Greentree showed his class all over the park. Ty Gallagher was a dominant physical presence all day. Jon Koop-Folkes really stood up for us this week working hard all day and he was the deserved winner of the mug. His pace and skills shone in what was a good overall performance.
Sean Horswell
Last Modified on 30/10/2005 13:29