Semi final Newsletter

The Presentation night will be on Friday 1 October at 7.00pm. Once again the night will be held at the Amora Hotel. All players are expected to attend and all supporters and friends are most welcome. The flyer is available on the website for further information. Contact Jon Derry to RSVP and for payment form and to find out more about the night. Payment is required by the RSVP date. jonderry@optusnet.com.au or ph. 0411 981 606

Seniors
Having finished in fourth spot, we were drawn to meet Ajax at Trevor Barker Oval, Sandringham on Sunday. Our season saw us winning 11 games, drawing one, and experiencing 7 losses. The day promised much with the sun shining, and no wind. Surely a recipe for a strong performance against an opponent whom we had accounted for 5 weeks earlier, at their home ground. Unfortunately we were on the back foot right from the outset. The team lost their influential on-baller Mitch Hough to an interstate work assignment, and Ben Craven went down with a hamstring injury in the last 5 minutes of training on the Thursday evening prior to the game. Cam Wilson, our dashing half back failed to recover from his hamstring injury. The upside of this was that opportunities were presented to the players, and we gave Under 19 Simon Bennett the opportunity to make his senior debut as the third tall forward. The match also signified another club milestone, in that Andrew Clarke was playing his 100th game for the club. Would we be able to use these to spur us on? As soon as the ball was bounced to start the game it was quite apparent that the young Wellers team was in for a tough encounter against a slick, skilled opponent. The movement of the ball into the Camberwell backline was played at such a speed that makes it very difficult to defend. Deputy Vice Captain, Ben Hart was the only player at this point who was beating his opponent, and he provided much needed drive out of defence. When the ball travelled in the other direction, our forwards weren't able to capitalise on the opportunities on offer and the Jackas defenders were able to run the ball out with little opposition. A 16 point margin was the deficit at quarter time. The coach stressed to the players that this was no cause for panic, and that if we were to stick to our structures and plans, then the margin would narrow, our confidence would be renewed and the opposition would falter. It wasn't to be, the Jackas had other plans for a Preliminary Final appointment, the Wellers were moving towards Mad Monday mode. The second quarter was a show of strength by our opponent that we couldn't match. They scored 6 goals 3 points to our 3 points to break the game open wide. The tall Ajax forwards were catching the ball with strength, positioning and determination. The margin had stretched to 52 points at the long break.

 The coach implored his players to not accept the fact that their opponents were better than them today. Do something, he said ... too many players were being beaten by their opponents but weren't prepared to do anything about it. Some players were not playing to the plan, or the team rules and it showed. Get a kick, lay a tackle, protect a team mate. The message was strong but wouyld it be listened to? To the boys credit, they fought the match out to the end scoring 4 goals to the opposition's 5 to at least finish the match not going down by 100 points, which appeared to be the likely outcome late in the second quarter. The backline, to a man remained resolute, and our mid fielders started to extract the all from the centre clearances, and stoppages, something that had deserted us for for much of the match. The positive for our Club was the performance of our young players, which does auger well for the future, provided they have the desire to stick together and become a premiership possibility. Let the journey begin!!!
Better Players: Ben Hart, Phil Bennett, Andrew Clarke, Caine Hillier, Jack Le Cerf, Greg Tolson
Goal Scorers: Caine Hillier 3, Andrew Clarke, Jack Duke, Jordan Heffernan

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