Hampton Rovers Juniors

For Boys and Girls

Under 13 Div 4 vs Port South Melbourne (R11)

by

Rovers 6.9.45 def South 2.4.16
Goals ; M. Tuffley (2) , B. Seddon (2), M. Giampa (1), H. Tuffley (1)

Summary
This weekend’s game was a great opportunity for the Rovers to bounce-back from a few tough matches, with the game against an equally-matched opponent in South Melbourne. We were also fortunate to have one of the most experienced umpires available. The school principal of Port Melbourne kindly offered to umpire our game immediately after his own after it was realised that the umpires for our game were unavailable.

The Rovers won the toss and chose to kick with the strong wind. The team was well served in the ruck all day, giving our rovers first-use of the ball. The Rover’s forward pressure was clearly evident, not allowing South to clear from our forward line. The midfielders aimed for the hot spot and the forwards knew where to go. It was a pleasing first quarter, with the Rovers kicking a couple of goals, but the crowded forward line also resulted in plenty of behinds. The backs did their job and kept the opposition scoreless.

After enjoying the wind in the first quarter, the Rovers had to play a different brand of footy in the second as they worked against the wind. The team worked well together, running in waves and handballing around from the backline to the forward line. Despite having most of the play, the Rovers couldn’t convert, but they did keep the opposition to a single goal.

The Rovers remembered what they did well in the first quarter with the wind, and repeated the dose in the third, but this time kicking straighter and putting plenty of scoreboard pressure on the opposition. In the fourth, the team locked-down the opposition as we kicked into the wind, while still attacking into our forward line.

The final score was a true reflection of the Rover’s commitment to playing team footy for 4 quarters, and the Rovers thoroughly deserved to sing the club song with gusto!

Highlights

  • A truly selfless act by Josh E, tapping the ball to our advantage in a contest that he knew would result in heavy contact.
  • Goals to both Mitch T (quick thinking in the goal square) and Harry T (strong contested mark in hot spot) in their last run with the U13s. It was great having you part of our team this year, boys.
  • Marco G’s presence and hard leading in the forward line. He owned the hot spot and everyone knew that he would give a good contest.
  • Ben S’s hard rucking all day, then taking-off for a run into the forward line, taking a few bounces then kicking truly.
  • Matt G’s hard running into the forward line, ball in-hand, then centering to the hot spot with a beautiful kick to Marco, who marked strongly and kicked truly. Unfortunately Matt was injured during the same passage of play, and we hope he makes a quick recovery. We greatly appreciated Matt’s contribution to the team.
  • Jensen attacking the football while holding-down the critical CHB position, with clearing kicks into the mid-field.
  • Christian B rotating into the ruck to relieve Ben S, getting a big fist on the ball to push the team forward.

Things we did well

  • run off half-back. Our defence was clicking, with players getting back to support the defenders, then running in waves off the backline.
  • centering to the hot spot. We were a much more dangerous side when we attacked the goals from in-front then around the pockets.
  • run & carry. We played our strengths, with players committing to support each other by running hard in groups, sharing the ball around and linking between half-back and half-forward.

Room for Improvement (RFI’s)

  • kicking off the ground. Just because you’re allowed to do something, doesn’t mean you should. Kicking off the ground is one of those things that we need to get out of our repertoire of footy skills. Better to take possession and do something constructive.
  • precision when hand balling. Sharing the ball around is one of our strengths, but when we are moving fast, we have to handball ahead of the player, to where they will be, not where they currently are.
  • declutter the forward line. Everyone love kick goals, but when we have most of our team in our forward line, it makes it hard for us to score. We need to maintain our structure and play disciplined footy, allowing our forwards to do their job.