Round 8 of EFL Football had the under 19s playing away @ Chirnside Park while the Reserves and Seniors took on The Basin Bears @ home.
After a see saw first half which had Chirnside and Mitcham 33 each of two at half time of the under 19’s, the Tiger colts found their legs much to the delight of the coaching panel and run over the top of the panthers with a 9 to goal second half.
Back at Walker Park the reserves didn’t have it all their own way winning by 20 points in a low scoring game. The story may well just be the good form and return of Adam Baltruweit who with a best on ground performance is sure to start putting on pressure for senior section.
The Senior game was a battle for top stop with the two undefeated teams going head to head after a tight first half it was a tiger onslaught in the second that set up the win with 7 goals to 2 with the coach NOT affected in the slightest by the extra attention together with J Hogel and Witnish leading the charge With NO football over the long weekend and players returning in the coming weeks the Tigers should be looking forward to the second half of the season.
If you are looking for a football fix or can spare some time on Saturday or Monday there is Vic metro junior championship football at the MCG of the east with two games both days. Canteen and Junior BBQ trailer will be running so if you can pop down and lend a hand it would be greatly appreciated - Please wear your Mitcham Polo / hoodie
Under 19's:
We were pleased to see the return of some of our key players after several weeks out for what was an extremely important game for our boys. After losing the last two matches we knew it was important to get back on the winners list and consolidate our spot in the top four. Chirnside Park is always a tricky side at Kimberley Reserve with windy conditions making it that little bit harder / unpredictable. Our boys started well against the wind and backed it up in the second quarter with both sides level at the main break. Quilts put it on the players at half time suggesting a third quarter against the win would be the key to getting the four points. We responded well and our second half was one of the best we have strung together in several weeks. Our midfielders were brilliant over the four quarters, Tom Lucas, Mikey Raath, Josh Doidge, Ryan Sullivan, Terry Ferlazzo and Luke McKeown led by Blake Dossor demonstrated that when their work rate and intensity is up they are extremely hard to stop. Our backs worked hard in very tricky conditions and our forwards complimented the hard work further up the ground. All in all a terrific effort and something we look forward to taking into our next match against the undefeated Park Orchards. Once again we thank our parents, supporters and staff for their support each and every week, particularly Robbie George who stepped in and helped as a trainer on Saturday. Well done to the Reserves and Seniors on terrific wins against The Basin. 3 wins is always a great result for the club.
Matt McCubbin (Ass Coach)
Reserves:
Important round before the break with opportunity to get 3 wins in a row and be 5 & 3. The day was a blustery one with the wind blowing hard to one end. The Basin are always tough opposition and they play hard all day. Pretty even at each of the breaks as we went into the final term 2 goals down, kicking with the wind we knew we had to lift our work rate and pressure as the wind wasn't going to do all the work, with a 5 goal last quarter we won by 20 points. It was very pleasing to get result especial as we didn't play at our best, we really had to fight it out and the boys effort was terrific. Boltz played his first game for the year after returning from holidays and was outstanding off half back, Aaron Menzies was hard at it all day along with Bluey whilst Toddy and our skipper Beag's lead from the front. We still have plenty to work on and this weeks break will do us all some good, we play top of ladder undefeated Park Orchards next and I every confidence we can put up a great show and get the result, well done to the Seniors just an awesome performance lads!
Steve Jordan
Seniors:
Round 8 was a huge day for the club celebrating game 1000 in the EFL which is a huge accomplishment. The seniors were presented with the daunting task of coming up against the other underfeated side in division 3 and with only 1% separating us on the ladder we knew we were going to have to be at our best. Our focus was on our defensive pressure making sure we didn't allow them any time or space when they had the footy. The first quarter saw us kicking against a 3-4 goal breeze, our tackling pressure was very good and we didn't allow them much room to take full advantage of the breeze. We went in at quarter time with a 3 point deficit. Our 2nd quarter was fantastic, our pressure didn't drop off and we used the ball well taking full advantage of the breeze kicking 7.1 to 2.1 for the quarter. Our third quarters have been an issue for us this year so we focused on making sure we corrected that. To our credit we were able to do so stringing together arguably our best quarter of the season kicking 5.5 to 2.2 against the strong breeze. Pleasingly we didn't take the foot off the pedal in the last quarter and put together our first 4 quarter performance of the season to run out 72 point victors. We had many contributors throughout the day but Jarrod Witnish continued his fine season, winning plenty of the ball and tackling ferociously. David Searl applied defensive pressure all day and won his share of the footy and Jayden Hoegel slotted 6 goals. Thanks to all the supporters who came out and celebrated the milestone with us it was much appreciated. Congrats to the Under 19's and Reserves on their wins. We look forward to seeing you all at park orchards after the break.
Neil Winterton
Last Modified on 02/06/2015 08:27