Round 3 Newsletter

Match Day Luncheon
The first Match day Luncheon is in 4 weeks on 29 May, Rnd 7 v Ajax. The guest speaker will be Ross Smith OAM who has been Chief Physiotherapist at 6 Olympics and 2 Commonwealth games as well as the Australian Woman's Hockey team and the Fitzroy Football Club. Many stories and insights to elite professional Australian sport means this is a lunch not to be missed. The Amora will provide the lunch which is another reason to get your ticket. Go to the website for further details.

Seniors
Despite the bright, sunny conditions greeting the boys at the ground, it was on the cards that they would face a tough, hard fought contest played in quite windy conditions at Central Reserve. The Wellers gave the impression that they had come to play and they got away early to a promising start by kicking goals into the wind, however the Nodders bounced back hard, with 4 goals to finish Q.1 15 points to the better. Q2 saw the Wellers use the wind better, by playing smart, attacking football and they kicked 6 goals to the oppositions 3 goals to wrest back the lead at the long break to 2 points. The Nodders would have been bouyed by this slender margin, knowing they had the use of the wind in Q.3, however the Balwyn boys fought hard, scrapped, chased, tackled and harassed to ensure that there was only a very slender lead at the final break. It is fair to say that some promising scoring opportunities went begging by the opposition, however as we all know youy must take your chances when they come your way Q.4 was another series of contests where both sides scrapped hard for the advantage. Again, both sides had their oportunities to secure a win, and importantly the points. In the end the teams couldn't be separated and a draw was the result. Better players for OC were Jack Duke, Pete Jenkin and Roh Kapoor.

Reserves
Against a strong breeze in the first quarter we were in a reasonable position at the first break with the scores being Mazenod 4 gls 3 behinds to Camberwell 2 gls 1 behind. Unfortunately during the second quarter our attack into the forward line was somewhat haphazard and time and again we kicked straight to the Mazenod loose man in defense. We were however still well and truly in the game with a half time score line of 5 gls 1 behind to Mazenod 6 gls 4 behinds The third quarter produced an onslaught from Mazenod with the strong wind which left us with a 6 goal deficit at three quarter time which we never recovered from. Better players for Camberwell were Nick Latsas, who played in a variety of positions and finished the game with a couple of quality goals, Jarod Collins who was again solid in defense and our two hard working on baller’s Andrew Hudson and James Robinson continue to push themselves each week. A special mention and thank you to those players that made themselves available to be goal or boundary umpire, team runner or water boys. After two heartbreaking losses away, it was good to be back home at GBO.

Under 19
In desperate need of a win, we knew Beaumaris would be no easy task. Winning the toss we kicked with the aid of a 4 to 5 goal wind. As expected Beauy were full of run, playing their very distinctive style of ‘play on at all cost’ and ‘switch and run’. This style coupled with the fact they dropped several players back behind the ball seemed to catch us off guard restricting us to just 2 goals 3 behinds and a 9 point lead at quarter time. After some re-jigging of the line up and an emphasised commitment to running defensively the game started to even out although we allowed them 8 scoring shots to our 2. We went into the long break with a 3point lead and we knew we must lift to ensure the fate of the last two weeks was not met again. Our Midfield took control of the contest in the third quarter supplying our forwards with quality ball delivery and they obliged by finishing the good work kicking 8 goals 3 behinds. The commitment to win the footy was apparent all over the ground and was catalyst to us going into 3 quarter time leading by 41 points. In the final quarter we where able get extra players behind the football to sure up the victory. In the end the players work rate and all-round commitment to each other was the catalyst for our victory and that was the most pleasing aspect our 36 point victory.

Under 18
The first quarter with the wind saw us record 7.8 to 2 goals. The challenge in the second quarter was to maintain the intensity and strive to keep the scoreboard ticking over against the strong wind. Despite controlling the quarter, we could only manage 2.4 while the opposition kicked 1.3. Our third quarter with the wind saw us ease the pressure and concentration to only record 4.4 to 4 points for Aquinas. A number of our players were not having their best days and there were many easy shots at goal missed. The coach’s address at ¾ time was directed squarely at the character of our young team – accept a mediocre result against a mediocre opposition as acceptable or summon up the pride and character to do something about it. 13.16 at ¾ time was a very average result for the amount of possession and shots on goal. The U18’s answered their coach’s demands with the best quarter they have played as a team so far. 8.4 against a strong wind whilst keeping the opposition to 1 goal involved every player lifting to do all the team things and hard work necessary to push the ball forward and allow us to score. It was very pleasing to see those down on form push themselves to get back into the game. Consistent contributors all day were Matt Klashovski, Harry Levvey, Ramy Raydan, Jacko Crothers, Dan Wasniewski and Jos Op ''t Hoog. The U18’s are improving their team game each week they play. Full numbers at training will help us progress even more. Higher conversion of shots on goal will need to be our focus moving forward.

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