Bulldog Stadium was awash with sunshine as the days footy got underway with the Under 18's clash against Woy Woy. As Warners Bay thrashed the Swans by 239 points only two weeks ago, the Doggies were expected to be too strong again. This quickly proved the case with the gallant Woy Woy boys finding they were outclassed completely. It must be remembered that Woy Woy fields a very young side and many had not played AFL at all until this season. Nonetheless the Bulldogs showed some great form to keep the Swans scoreless, whilst scoriing 39.15 themselves. Coach Punter proved he is the number one Under 18's coach at the club with this record scoreline. Despite the massive scoreline, the Warners Bay side was undisciplined in patches but showed their best when they decided to attack and focus on the footy rather than what was being said by the opposition. Best for the Bulldogs were Rick Robertson, Tyren Hartley (11 goals), Nathan O'Donoghue, Nick Metcalfe, James Loosemore and Jack Downing.
The Ressies came off on the wrong side of a twenty goal drubbing against Woy Woy a fortnight ago but were bolstered this week by the return of a few key players. The reserves are always a different side at home, too, and were quietly confident of improving on the previous result. From the start the Warners Bay lads were hard at the footy and matching it with the big Woy Woy side. Everyone seemed prepared to run and put their body on the line for their teammates and their confidence grew as their lead increased throughout the game. Depite holding a 21 point lead going into the last quarter, the boys knew they couldn't afford to give Woy Woy a sniff and would have to battle out until the final siren. To the credit of every player they did just that, kicking 5.0 to 3.1 in the last quarter to seal a very sweet victory. Coach Atkin was dribbling with delerious excitement (or something) well after the final siren sounded. Best players for Warners Bay were Anthony Kirby, Matt Simpson, Brad Willimas, Ben Street (6 goals at FF), Scotty Ducker and Leigh Anderson. A special mention to the Sean Colville and Jack Downing who played up fro the Under 18's and had top games.
Unfortunately the news was not so good for First Grade who went down by 165 points to the red hot defending premiers. With players of the calibre of Josh Molan, Brad Williams, Ryan Sorenson, Chris Upton, John Butler and Leigh Anderson unavailable for the clash, the Bulldogs always knew they would do it tough. Unfortunately they were not able to stem the flow of the ball out of the centre and paid the price. Cardiff were to strong and had at the footy all over the ground. Nonetheless there were a number of solid performers for the Doggies who didn't give up all day. The efforts of the four 16 and 17 year olds were again good to see. Nick Roberts (on first grade debut), Nick Metcalfe, Tyren Hartley and Michael May all performing well after backing up from the Under 16's and 18's.
Best for Warners Bay were Brad Petherbridge, Jimmy Newburn, Ben Hunter, Paul Wyman, Chris Gordon and Nick Roberts.
Nest weekend sees a bye due to the rep games with the following weekend being the return match against Killarney Vale.
Last Modified on 04/06/2007 11:22