Sunday was a great opportunity to cement a finals berth. We knew our first quarters were typically our worst and we stressed to the boys the importance of getting off to a good start. As soon as the ball was bounced and Orlando tapped true down Taro’s throat and we kicked it long to our forward line, I had a great feeling we were finally on track.
Our intensity was fantastic, with our captain for the day Marco tackling hard and our pressure in defence was first rate with the likes of Luca and Anastasi repelling many attacks. As usual Angus always puts a smile on my face when he gets the ball and his goal was a ripper. Max and Oliver from the Under 12s also played well and contributed valiantly. A big thanks for stepping up for us.
However, it turned a little ugly after that, our ability to sustain that pressure over four quarters is proving to be the biggest challenge of all. Our ability to run a big oval the size of Boss James is tough on the seniors, let alone U13s.
Entering the 4th quarter, we swung some positional changes and I urged the boys to give it their all this time. Forget the scoreboard and do your best. This was reflected in a great final term, Tom’s clearance work from the ground ball in particular was brilliant. Nathaniel and Luca winning contests, and the ball being transferred from the backline forward with Mitch Nolan and Kai doing some great work.
Camdyn always give a 5 star effort and both Charlie and himself had me daring to dream in the last term when we kicked consecutive goals. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t keep up with pace from our opposition and as a result we went down.
These patches of play need to turn into quarters next year, the bonds forged this year by the boys will result in them being better footballers in the future. They have learnt their team mates strengths and weaknesses, and individually they know we need to get better.
This begins on the training track and we have another opportunity this week in that if we play our best football, we can beat anyone.
Nevertheless, I’m loving the interactions and banter between the boys, great friendships formed and I’m looking forward to dinner Friday night with the team, it’s going to be a great night at the Hampton RSL after training.
Rovers 3.7.25
St Peters 9.7.61
Goals: Angus, Camdyn, Charlie
Best: Thomas, Orlando, Camdyn, Taro, Luca, Marco, Anastasi
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