The Div 4 Rovers boys, hungry for a win after last week’s close encounter, traveled to Murrumbeena to verse a tall and quick ball moving side out on Kangaroo Road. We had debutante Jordan B get presented his jumper, and from there the teams vibes grew and followed onto the field for the first quarter. Despite the hard efforts from playing in the Under 15’s game before, Jack C, Christian B, Ben D and Lucas C all pushed through this game and gave everything they had to help their team. The player to start the flame was Chevi O, who won his own ball and bought us a lot of time and territory on that far wing. Ollie C was also electric, who marked, faced up and hit multiple targets in the first quarter and throughout the game.
The backline was held up very strongly, however the wind played a big part of our game and it took us a bit of time to adjust. The press fell apart due to the wind, and cost us a couple goals. After this however, we adjusted well and didn’t let one get out the back for the rest of the game. We decided to press when we had the wind, and play man on man without it. Harrison S saved about five goals by reading the ball, playing in front and being proactive. He just always expected it to come his way which made him that second faster to getting it than his opponents.
We needed some scoreboard pressure, and a tactical position change to put birthday boy Jake G into the guts and the wing saw him kick two great goals from distance. Josh E was lightning quick and exploded the ball forward with his pace. His run and gun was critical against the wind. When the going got tough, the debutante Jordan B did not give up, and held up the midfield on his shoulders as he surged the ball forward and earned himself his first Hampton Rovers goal. Jake M, who was a chief down back instructing the defenders to man up, was also a sensational team player who sprinted 150 metres to get to Jordan to congratulate him on his first goal. That is what it’s all about. Despite all our positives said so far, we just couldn’t kick enough goals with the wind compared to Murrumbeena. They were a strong side on the day, and our perceived pressure with ball in hand cost us composure and may have been the key factor in the five goal loss. We need to win or halve more air contests too. Cleaner kicking decisions and also more accountability may have got us over the line and will be a huge focus this week.
Things we did well:
– Adjusted to the wind and set up
– Surged the ball forward
– Shepherds were outstanding
Room For Improvement (RFI):
– Winning or halving air contest (mark it or bring it to ground)
– Composure: Just look at your target before you kick, don’t shoot blind
– Be tighter on your man on transition from us having the ball to not having it
Lets not just dwell and fix what we need to improve on, maintain our efforts in what we did well AND try to fix what we need to improve on. See you Wednesday boys.
