This morning looked like a real winter morning but by game time, the sun broke through and we were treated to very good conditions down at St Bedes Mentone. After our first defeat last week against St Peters, we had heard that St Bedes Mentone had beaten St Peters in the weeks prior, so we knew we up against great opposition again. Jody Cripps and Baxter Moss lead the boys out as Captains today for what was going to be a real test for our team. We welcomed our newest team mate Jack Breen to the team today for his first match as a Rover.
The first quarter was an even contest with both teams fighting it out from end to end, there was plenty of young talent across the ground and the footy was great to watch. It was a physical start, Jade had an amazing quarter gaining really tough possessions in the contest. Chris started in the ruck and started to show us his strength around the pack (something we’ve been working on at training) Fletcher and Jake battled hard from the midfield all quarter. Daniel fought for his own ball like he does every week and got slammed on the boundary but recovered and returned soon after to play out the quarter. Our backs held up well, in particular Wil, Toby, and Josh who played tight, high pressure footy and we managed to keep St Bedes goalless for the quarter.
The second quarter the opposition started to out number us at the ball and scored an early goal. Hampton responded with Magnus providing ruck taps to Toby, Jody and Wil. Jody had more metres gained this quarter than we had seen before, amazing clean takes in greasy conditions with plenty of run. Our forwards looked dangerous with near misses by Fletcher and Jake. Seb was learning how playing in front and staying in the pack often results in free kicks which he did well today and was rewarded as such. Another tough quarter without a Hampton goal!
Last week at training we spoke about how we ran out of legs in the later half and how nutrition was vital to sustaining the whole game. The boys gobbled up those oranges and I could tell today we had some extra spark today. Raph gave us first use of the ball in the middle with Harry, Lincoln and Baxter cutting up the packs, Jack looked at home on the wing in his first game getting some well earned touches. We again got some good looks at goal but couldn’t get one through. St Bedes snuck another goal in and we had a big challenge ahead of us at three quarter time. We were still goalless but with a slightly building breeze going into the last.
It’s worth noting we were playing short today with a boy loaned each quarter from St Bedes Mentone. Last week we really dropped our intensity and run in the last quarter and after another hard game we didn’t want to do that again. I reminded the boys we had the wind and we just needed twelve more minutes of effort with a primary goal of playing out the game with our heads up high. The siren sounded and the boys were off. Jody, Ollie, Jake and Fletcher kept pumping the ball forward using the wind with long kicks. Within minutes and after being goalless for the day so far Fletcher spotted a pass to Lincoln who broke the pack and wound on to his right boot to bag his first goal of the season. The spirits lifted and Hampton was up an about. The momentum continued with our midfield getting on top of the contests, Jody again was breaking tackles like Dusty Martin and blowing by everyone on the wing. Another bomb went into our forwards where Harry weaved his magic around St Bedes and slotted our second goal in as many minutes. The scores were close and the game was on. The remainder of the quarter was exciting to watch and it was the clock that eventually stopped us storming home to sweet victory in a tough outing.
While our score was less than the opposition today and St Bedes Mentone had played a great, tough game of footy. I felt it was an equally great game from our team. I was proud of the way our boys stood up when it counted, never said die and played for each other. We saw today what the boys can do when they work as a team and apply maximum effort, they really wanted to win the game today and that hunger is what will bring them success! We returned to the rooms to sing our song and celebrate a great Sunday morning where our Rovers’ boys tried their hearts out right to the final siren like champions always do! As far as I am concerned there were plenty of winners from today’s game and lots to be happy about!
Looking forward to next weeks return of Campbell Hardie after his extended leave! (and Dad!)
The awards this week:
Outstanding Contribution – Jake Ring, Jake is getting better each week, today he won his one on one contests time and again and showed the opposition his heels bursting from the packs. Best game so far for Jake! Great effort.
Guts and Determination – Toby Clarkson, Toby played a lot down back today, his determination and courageous attack on the footy was a big part in why St Bedes couldn’t score on us. Toby took plenty of hard knocks today and just kept on going. Tough guy and great team mate!
Completely Smashed It – Jade Doherty, Jade was on fire today, marks in the packs, winning his own ball and just owning what ever position we put him in. Jade just plays straight at the ball and get the rewards and respect of all around him. Superstar today!
Mark of the Day – Baxter Moss, On a day when marks were slipping through a few fingers Baxter was clean and reliable in his marking all day. I can tell Baxter is one of the boys who has the footy in his hands most of the day.
Michael Sharpe
Coach
Hampton Rovers U/9 Yellow
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