G’Day Footy Fans, Well, Belgrave at Belgrave this week and this was the first time that we had visited the Belgrave ground since 2006 as following that season Belgrave paid an extended visit to Second Division, returning this season. Belgrave had been doing reasonably well so far and was sitting in fourth spot on the Senior ladder and had lost only one match at their home ground. Traditionally, these neighbourhood matches have been hard to win with the end result now and then taking the unexpected path and thus Belgrave could certainly not be taken easily and to add to our pre-match frowns the Senior team had been forced to replace four of our best players, captain Ryan van Hoorn, key defender Steve Brotja, utility Kyle Grenda and ruckman Sean Currey, all absent due to nagging injury. There was a further cause for concern for the various soothsayers and believers in the supernatural and occult when it was realised that there was a preponderance of thirteens in the mix. This, as some gloomily announced, was Round 13 and was being played on the thirteenth day of the month and to compound the evil portents this was the year 2013. Such concerned souls clutched tightly to their bunches of garlic and further honed the points of their sharpened stakes just in case. The rest of us merely shrugged our shoulders and were thankful that the ground was in really good nick, as was the weather. Belgrave started the better as the match got underway in what it soon became obvious was going to be a very physical event as Belgrave tested Upwey’s abilities to absorb the heavy clashes that were made. A couple of behinds to Belgrave soon were joined by a couple of goals as the home team’s tactics seemed to be bearing fruit while at the other end Upwey, under physical pressure, had four behinds on the scoreboard before finally managing a couple of goals but much of the opening quarter had now elapsed. In between those two Upwey goals, Belgrave had added their third. A late goal to Upwey as the team began to steady was backed up by a few more behinds as Upwey’s opening quarters inaccuracy continued but, at quarter’s end, Upwey had still managed to gain a narrow three point lead. It had been a good comeback from the Upwey team in the face of some heavy work from many of the Belgrave lot. The second quarter was again highlighted by some heavy physical clashes, not always to the home team’s advantage as the umpires began to take an interest in some of the incidents. A goal apiece to each team got things started but then Upwey gradually began to exert some authority over proceedings as their superior team co-operation began to bear fruit and the result was that three more goals were scored by the visitors when perhaps a few more could have been gained. At the other end the much vaunted Belgrave forward group was being kept under reasonable control by the Tiger defence. Approaching the half-time break Upwey had established a twenty-one point lead that was looking really promising but then Belgrave managed to slot through two late goals to narrow the visitor’s lead to just nine points as all gratefully paused for the long break. It had been a really eventful half of football and although on the scoreboard their seemed little between the two teams, the wise heads did feel that Upwey was adjusting to events a little the better. Time of course would tell. Time indeed did tell as the third quarter began and it soon became obvious that Upwey was gradually getting on top of things as their more precise ball movement coupled with a winning midfield was giving more and more scoring opportunities. At the other end of the ground the Upwey backs were still stymying the Belgrave forwards and their ability to exert pressure on their opponents was forcing some hurried disposals by the Belgrave forwards. Four goals were added to the Upwey total as that team’s lead extended to dangerous proportions. Goalless for most of this third term Belgrave gained a lucky break just before the siren ended things: a kick into Belgrave’s scoring area appeared to be well covered by the Upwey defender but then a cruel bounce saw the ball take a sharp turn to the left and unfortunately landed in the hands of a Belgrave player well in the clear and from a few metres out he managed to score Belgrave’s one and only goal for the third quarter. Such are the vagaries of the oval ball. Still, Upwey’s lead was now twenty-six points and they were looking much the better team. Any slight doubts as to the result of the match were quickly put to rest as the final quarter began and Upwey really turned on a master-class, particularly in the opening six minutes when the team scored four goals. Upwey’s attack on the football during this period was extraordinary as a winning ruck group was giving Upwey the first use of the ball and the mid-field, now completely dominant, responded with glee to the opportunities offered and slammed the ball into Upwey’s scoring zone where running – ever running – Upwey opportunity-takers responded with goals. Then suddenly the tap was turned off, perhaps to give us a chance to draw breath and have a good think about things. Whatever the reason, this respite did give Belgrave an opportunity to make a bit of a mark on the match and they were able to gain their first goal of the quarter and then, a few minutes later, scored a second but there would be little further cheering from the Belgrave folk. The Tiger team soon got back on the job and added a further five goals while allowing Belgrave just one more goal as the visitors showed their superiority and went on to win by a comfortable sixty-five points. The versatility of Upwey’s scoring opportunities can be clearly seen by the number of players scoring goals, its no good just shutting down one forward. Scores: Upwey-Tecoma – 3.7.25 7.11.53 11.13.79 20.15.135 Belgrave – 3.4.22 6.8.44 7.11.53 9.16.70 Best: Steve Dawson, Tom Hedge, Nathan Wale-Buxton, Sam Gooley, Dylan Sloane. Goals: Daniel Waters 4, Robbie Huxtable 4, Chris Brown 2, Paul Broeker 2, Jake Dunn 1, Jaydn Orger 1, Tom Hedge 1, Sam Gooley 1, Jackson Lucas 1, Chad Davis 1, Steve Dawson 1, Tyson Heinrich 1. It was fairly obvious right from the start of the match that there were to be plenty of physical confrontations and the umpires responded to this in quite a responsible manner. While they soon indicated by their approach that they had nothing against a hard football contest they also demonstrated that the player who was making the ball his object would gain support while those players who chose to transgress against the rules would suffer appropriate punishment and perhaps Belgrave suffered the more as a result. The umpires approach certainly added to the match. Like their Senior brethren, the Reserves had number problems; having given up four of their better players to the Senior cause they also had their own injury worries that served to deplete their available numbers and they had to turn to a couple of Under Eighteen players to make up their numbers. In addition to that of course, Belgrave was in second spot on the Reserves’ ladder and thus could be expected to provide some tough opposition. Belgrave started out the better in the opening quarter as Upwey seemed a little unsettled and the home team posted a couple of early goals which no doubt boosted their confidence. Then, midway through the quarter Belgrave added a third goal and suddenly they looked full of confident running. Fortunately, towards the end of this opening term of play, Upwey started to find their collective feet and also found the goal-mouth as they spotted a couple of goals so that the margin at the end of the quarter was just six points in favour of the home team. The second quarter saw a real turn around in the match as Upwey really swung into action and using their trademark ball skills and ever thoughtful play they took control of the match in what became a real reversal of that which had happened in the opening quarter, although a change had perhaps been suggested in the final moments of that term. Now Upwey was pretty much dominant all over the ground as they were moving the ball with precision everywhere but always with the purpose of going forward. By the time that the halfway point of the quarter was reached Upwey had added four goals to their scoreboard total while holding Belgrave scoreless in the same period. Belgrave did now manage to gain a goal of their own but Upwey immediately responded with a couple to maintain their edge and although Belgrave goaled again as the half-time break neared, Upwey now led them by twenty-two points and that team was looking much the better. Scoring slowed down somewhat in the third quarter with each team gaining a couple of behinds each and it was not until fifteen minutes had passed that Upwey scored the first goal of the quarter and then added a second just before siren-time but the telling figure was that Belgrave had been goalless for the length of the quarter and their chances of turning the match around seemed rather faint. The final quarter was a fairly even period with each team scoring four goals in what was a quite interesting end to the match but at the end Upwey held a thirty-one point lead for a good win in what was a very physically hard match. The depth of the Club’s playing strengths was never more clearly shown than the manner in which the two Under Eighteen players managed their rise into open-age football. The two volunteers – Jackson Barnard and Will Mutschler – blended into the team like veterans and added much to the team’s performance. In fact “The Mutsch” underlined his performance with a couple of goals. Well done them. Scores: Upwey-Tecoma – 2.1.13 8.5.53 10.6.66 14.7.91 Belgrave – 3.1.19 5.1.31 5.4.34 9.6.60 Best: Tim Harris, Josh McMillan, Mitchell Hannon, Kris O’Brien, Isaac Krijt. Goals: Mitchell Hannon 4, Will Mutschler 2, Alex Kelly 2, Tim Harris 2, Jack Hughes 1, Mitchell Sabec 1, Kris O’Brien 1, Ryley Hannagan 1. It was good to have the Under Eighteens back in the home fold this week after their solo jaunt to Healesville last week, a friendly following is always nice to have. Belgrave Eighteens have struggled a bit this season and were sitting in the lower middle area of the ladder but it would certainly be foolish to take them lightly. Neighbourhood matches such as these so often see school friends and such pitted against each other and there is always a point, friendly no doubt, to be proved. The opening quarter of the match was certainly not a match for the ages, it was rather scrappy and although lots of energy was expended, not much resulted. A string of behinds was shared between the two teams early on before finally Upwey was able to gather a goal but then a 50 metre penalty awarded to Belgrave allowed them to square things up. This success seemed to spur Belgrave along and they now attacked with a will but the Upwey defence held strong and allowed just a few behinds through. Upwey now gathered themselves together and scored a brace of goals to end the quarter with a ten point lead. Upwey began to take control of the match very early on in the second quarter as they began to increase their forward entries and although many of their shots at goal were from a goodly distance out and many missed, enough found their intended targets for the team to add four goals for the quarter. At the other end of the ground the Upwey defence stood ultra strong against any scoring efforts by Belgrave and indeed, Upwey’s marking defenders were most prominent. Belgrave’s lone score for the quarter, a behind, came courtesy of a rather doubtful 50 metre penalty. In the third quarter Belgrave made some energetic efforts to make up for their previous quarter lapses and were early in attack but again the Upwey backs kept them out and continually sent the ball forward for the use of their up-field cobbers but the forwards failed to make the most of these chances until the quarter was well advanced. A mid-quarter goal to Upwey was soon answered by Belgrave but that was the full extent of that team’s pleasure as Upwey then added a further three goals to virtually wrap up the result in their favour, even with a quarter still to play. Upwey showed in the final quarter that they were prepared to try many things in an attempt to open up play which was not an easy thing to do on the tight Belgrave oval and although they did indeed really pepper the goal front, accuracy seemed to have deserted them and a string of behinds resulted, seven in fact. They did manage to score a couple of goals while Belgrave also added a somewhat rare goal for them but the match ended with Upwey well in front and, thanks to other match results, back on top of the ladder. Scores: Upwey-Tecoma – 3.3.21 7.7.49 11.9.75 13.16.94 Belgrave – 1.5.11 1.6.12 2.9.21 3.11.29 Best: James Robertson, Jackson Barnard, Mitchell Waterman, Sam Glazner, Liam Beacom, Nathan Waterman. Goals: Damon Torrance 4, Jackson Barnard 3, James Robertson 2, Jackson Waters 2, Dagan Filardi 1, Nathan Waterman 1. The Vets were at home to Emerald in their penultimate match of the season and went down narrowly to the visitors. Emerald kicked a Super Goal in the third quarter and the nine points thus gained proved to be the difference between the two teams at the end. Upwey’s ever-affable Reserves’ Assistant Coach David Grant has been a prominent member of the Vets team and during this match he offered some well intentioned advice to the umpire. Unfortunately the umpire, showing that he had no sense of humour whatsoever, invited Our Dave to leave the playing arena forthwith, which Dave reluctantly did. His absence did not help an already stretched team. Scores: Upwey-Tecoma – 3.2.20 5.5.35 6.7.43 7.9.51 Emerald – 3.2.20 4.2.26 (1).5.6.45 (1).7.7.58 Best: Shannon Brooker, Mark Lindsay, Ian Henderson, David Grant, Neil French, Ian Atkinson. Goals: Mark Lindsay 5, David Grant 2. In the netball, our A Grade team was back in action following a week off and soon showed that the rest had done them no harm at all as they quite comfortably accounted for Belgrave by a margin of twenty-four goals. The team established a solid eight goal lead in the opening quarter but then Belgrave threw out a strong challenge in the second term when they drew to within three goals but Upwey answered that challenge in the second half, outscoring Belgrave twenty-seven goals to sixteen to win the match 62 goals to 38. Upwey’s best were Melanie Walters, Rylie McLoughlin and Natalie Montanari while the goals came from Tess Linkins 46 and Jordan Lingard 16. The A Reserve match was a rather tight affair with the result not really finally decided until well into the final quarter. Belgrave held a slight lead at the end of the opening term of play but a good second quarter from Upwey saw them take the lead and then hold off every Belgrave challenge to win by eleven goals. The final scores were Upwey-Tecoma 46 to Belgrave 35. Best for Upwey were Katie Lowe, Jordi Elms and Penny Oliver while the goals came from Jordi Elms 31 and Jasmine Schubert 15. The B Grade team went down to a more experienced Belgrave team. The team’s solid form in the opening term unfortunately could not be maintained and the home team gradually drew away as the match progressed. Final scores were Upwey-Tecoma 25 to Belgrave 42. Upwey’s best players were Emma Hedge, Brooke James and Emily Dowling while the team’s goals were scored by Emma Hedge 21 and Emily Dowling 4. The B Reserve team led at every change in their match against Belgrave and indeed was able to increase their lead in each of the quarters except for the third when Belgrave battled hard but still could not decrease the margin. The final scores in this match were Upwey-Tecoma 31 to Belgrave 20. Best for Upwey were Jacqui Cooke, Michelle Tomlinson and Lily Moore. The goals were scored by Michelle Tomlinson 22 and Kristen Bez 9. And so the Neighbourhood Round comes to an end with a pretty good success rate for us. No matches next weekend as it is the country football championships in which our league will not be competing but still, the break will probably do us no harm and will help many players to get over any nagging physical hurts. Our next match thus will be in a fortnight’s time when we wander up the hill to Olinda. Olinda Seniors are serious challengers for a top five spot at the moment and so we can reasonably expect that they will be pulling out all stops to gain a win at our expense and thus we will, as always, need to be at our best. But, until then remember, a dog who attends a flea circus most likely will steal the whole show. See Ya, Tezza.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 00:37:25 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015