Sunday 17th of June saw the return of footy for the U17 Sandy-Rovers after a well-earned week off following our hard-fought game against Bentleigh. This week’s fixture led us to Koornang Park as the boys geared up for their second match against the Caulfield Bears. In our previous meeting we played well enough to come out victors by 4 goals, however Caulfield’s performances have improved since the start of the season and their desire to beat us would be much higher the second time around.
Our boys started the first term well, matching Caulfield’s attack on the footy in less than ideal conditions, as both the ball and playing field were proving very slippery. Due to a lack of defensive running from our boys, Caulfield were able to grab an early lead and entered the second quarter up by 6 points.
The second term, with the advantage of the wind coming over our shoulders, the Sandy Rovers put in a great effort defensively. The extra effort from the lads resulted in 3 goals to push the score line in our favour, while also keeping Caulfield scoreless for the quarter.
With high spirits and a few oranges fuelling the boys, the second half commenced and it showed that Caulfield weren’t about to back down, having many scoring shots early in the term but a lack of accuracy saw nil goals and 5 behinds helping the Sandy-Rovers to expand their lead at 3 quarter time to 15 points. With wet, windy conditions and high pressure around the stoppages, it seemed goals were very hard to come by.
The Final term was fiercely contested as both teams found it difficult to score in the testing conditions despite the lift in tempo and efforts around the contested ball. Defensively, the boys held back a solid charge from Caulfield until the clock eventually ran out with the Sandy-Rovers as 17-point winners. A great result for the boys, after their unfortunate narrow loss 2 weeks earlier.
Some notable performances included a best-on-ground performance by Zeb Skellern whose attack on the ball and tackling dominance shone through in the wet conditions all day. Sebastian (Bas) Sardo, whose defensive pressure and tackling destroyed many of Caulfield’s chances at goal and lastly, Liam O’Driscoll who played his best game of the year with strong overhead grabs and 4 goals from 4 kicks to go along with them. Great efforts from these boys, backed up with solid performances throughout from their team-mates. Well done fellas!
With the Sandy Rovers back on the winners’ list, we look forward to facing St Kilda City back at the Boss next week, before the school holiday break.
Passion – Teamwork – Fun – Respect
Tom
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