We headed down to Beaumaris this week and knew we were up against good competition. Last year we remember Beaumaris being a tough hard and well skilled opponent and they didn’t disappoint again this week displaying similar football.
After last weeks game, we set ourselves some goals for the week. First was to keep our spread and space on the ground and second was to move the ball quickly and play on when ever possible. At training this week the boys did time trials moving the ball as a team and experimenting with different methods. The boys worked out, it was best when we were well spaced and kept the ball moving by hand and foot using the whole team, not any one player.
This week our Captains were Jade Doherty and Will Licheri and the boys both lived up to the team expectation today. The Beauy ground was smaller than we are used to and made creating space difficult, but the boys to their credit really stuck to the team rules today and we saw some great end to end footy and many scoring opportunities from playing on and moving fast. Today we had a completed team effort with everyone playing apart in a successful game against great opposition.
The first quarter was very tight with neither team scoring a goal. The back six held together really well Jade, Josh and Toby all took great marks in defence and there was terrific spoiling and tackling from Christopher and Fletcher in the scraps. Theeran was smashing the packs with eyes only for the ball and collided heavily in courageous play with another nugget from Beaumaris. Our midfields kept the spread and Baxter followed the team initiative to leave one man a kick behind the play to mop up the loose ball getting plenty of it. The forwards got limited opportunity in a tight quarter.
The second quarter saw our backline under pressure again and this time it was Campbell, Ollie, Seb and Magnus taking the heat and continually moving the ball forward to our mids. Daniel was in and under the packs and Lincoln steered a nice kick into Harry that resulted in our first goal of the day. The match was very tight at half time.
In the third quarter Jody, Jake and Seb G starting getting some run through the mid field, with lots of playing on just like we spoke about. Beauy intercepted a lot of our kicks inside the forward circle but eventually Raph plucked a mark and went back with poise, slotting the goal on a reasonably tight angle. Josh was getting plenty on the wing and Toby had a break out quarter with multiple possessions tackles, second and third efforts, Great to see! Beauy managed to sneak another goal on us and again we had a very tight match on our hands again.
In the last quarter we wanted to keep that ball moving and tighten up on our defence, and that’s what we did. We played on at every opportunity resulting in the Rovers peppering the goals. Jake had the ball on a string. Campbell bodied up and muscled out a great goal. Jody soon followed with a great snap goal from the pocket. Beauy fought hard for another score but Raph again stood tall on the last line of defence for our mark of the day.
Very successful game today, with a full team effort. We have finished off our first two games strongly without a bench, which I have been really impressed with. The boys are really taking note of the team game plan and its great to see the things we focus on at training showing in the game on Sunday.
Weekly Awards
Outstanding Contribution – Jade Doherty was always in the play, took a bag of marks and used the ball well all day.
Guts and Determination – Theeran Goyal came off hurt twice after amazing clashes with eyes only for the ball. Courageous game today.
Completely smashed it – Jody Cripps had a really big impact on the game, with plenty of play on and drive forward.
Mark of the Day – Raphael Leman-Philip took two great marks but the goal line stopper was today’s most crucial.
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