Mitcham made the short trip down Park road this week to take on Park Orchards in the two clubs first ever clash. With an excellent crowd in attendance on a great day for local footy there was more than four points on the line with bragging rights also up for grabs with a strong crossover of families and players between the two clubs. The day got off to an excellent start with both the Under 19s and Reserves recording spirited wins against the previously undefeated Park Orchards while the Seniors didn’t have it all their own way has they recorded a solid win over a young, quick shark outfit. BIG thank you to The Park Orchards folk for their hospitality and good luck for the remainder of the season
Under 19s Coaches Report
A huge challenge for our boys this week coming up against an undefeated Park Orchards team on their home deck. We spent a lot of time on this match and knew we could take the points if we stuck to our game plan. It was always important for us to get early pressure on the scoreboard and that we did. Our players were physical at every contest and wanted to win the footy more than our opponents which is always a good start. Our second year players showed tremendous leadership all game but it was our first year players that impressed under sever pressure. Park Orchards came hard at us after half time and unlike the side we were a few years back we held our nerve and made sure we did everything we could to walk away with the points. Mitch Holzheimer, Tommy Blanche, Nathan Foster and Mick Barro were solid down back while Adam Glanville, Sam Howell and Benny Joseph all made it count down forward. Our rucks in Dossor and Brindley were again superb but it was our midfielders who showed great character battling out a tough game with minimal rotations due to injuries yet again. Big challenge as we come up against Chirnside for the second time in two weeks followed by the Sharks who will be out for revenge the week after. Great first half of the season by our boys. Important we keep working on our mistakes so we are ready to go come the pony end of the season. Special thanks to Big Dog Andrew McKeown for his work on the boundary line each week. "There would be no game if it wasn’t for the courage of our unsung boundary umpire heros”. straight from the horses mouth. Great wins to the Reserves and Senior boys and another 3 win day for the club. Lets keep them coming. Thanks to our supporters and volunteers, we look forward to seeing everyone at home on Saturday.
Matt McCubbin - Assistant Coach
Reserves Coaches Report
Defeat the undefeated was our purpose and the boys delivered! Park Orchards were 7 wins and a draw from their 8 games and hadn’t lost at home for 2 seasons. After a slow 1st qtr once again we edged our way back to be level at half time. We could sense that our pressure was troubling them and if we maintained this level we would get the result on the scoreboard, at 3 qtr time we had a 20 point lead. We started well in the last term and held then at bay to win by 3 goals, our ability to run into space and gather uncontested marks along with our pressure was crucial in getting the win for us. Toddy in the ruck was huge all day, they had no answer to him giving us first use. Rob Durham, Emmo & Dylan Wylde down back were solid all day all showed great re-bound across half back whilst Boltz, Beag’s and Bluey dominated their on ballers with Bluey also kicking 3 goals. We still have plenty to work on especially our starts but as a unit we have certainly improved each week, our challenge is better consistency across 4 quarters and converting forward entry opportunities. Terrific win, couldn’t be more proud of our effort, now the focus is on Chirnside Park this week.
Steve Jordan - Reserves Coach
Senior Coaches Report
Round 9 saw us come up against a very committed and disciplined side in Park Orchards. They came with a defensive mind set to shut us down as much as possible and limit the time and space we had, to their credit they were able to do this and it resulted in a pretty scrappy game. Unfortunately we copped a couple of injuries with Jayden doing his hammy in the first quarter and crossy done before half time. This obviously hampered our ability to rotate our midfield as much as we would've liked to meaning that we had to dig deep and work through fatigue which was good test for us. Our inability to kick straight in front of goals hampered us throughout the day and meant that we never had a comfortable margin at any stage, we were pushed right to the end and it was pleasing to see us be able to respond when we weren't necessarily playing our best footy. Nick Higginson had his best game of the season and dominated in the ruck and all around the ground and Lucas Marro stood up in Jayden's absence and provided us with a spark up forward. Thanks to all the supporters who made it to the game and came back to the rooms afterwards as well, we really appreciate the support. Look forward to seeing you all at home this week.
Neil Winterton - Senior Coach
Please check out The Event Calendar on this website as there is a number of excellent Club events comimg up over the next month or so starting with
The Junior Clubs Apparel sale THIS FRIDAY NIGHT in the social club between 6 and 7 pm. As the weather has now turned a little cooler what better time to show your colours and support your team with some winter warmers. All merchandise items are of the highest quality – Lots of stock and sizes available and will be sold on a first in first served basis - Pay by Cash, cheque or credit card.
With ALL 3 senior teams and a number of junior teams potentially finals bound, there’s never a better time to ‘Show your TIGER Colours.
Then on SATURDAY NIGHT its off to Nickos Tavern for some great live entertaiment, food and drink @ just 50 bucks a head its great value and a chance for us to come together as a club and not only support one of our sponsors but chat about the season so far #neverbeenabettertimetobeatiger
Last Modified on 16/06/2015 17:02