G’Day Footy Fans, Well, Second Semi Final day for five of our teams, three footy teams and two netball teams. The Healesville ground, where all matches were to be played, was in absolutely tip-top condition and the day was fine and fair, just perfect for a great day’s sport. But before we get to the day’s events there are a couple of congratulations that we must hand out. The first is to the Junior Club’s Under Eleven team which pulled off the premiership in their division, defeating Monbulk by seventeen points in a cracker of a performance. We look forward to watching some of these young guys receiving premiership medallions as members of a Senior team premiership in ten or eleven years time. The second congratulatory hand-out goes to Rory Sloane who was voted Adelaide Crows’ Best and Fairest player a few days ago. All Upwey Footy Fans have long known of Rory’s great ability and now everyone knows. And so to the Senior’s match. Wandin should have started as warmish favourites for the match as that team had defeated Upwey in both of their previous meetings this season but we all hoped that finals brought a different atmosphere to bear. Upwey was early into attack and had the ball deep into their forward area from the outset but disappointingly all this good work was being undone with some off-key shooting at goal and four behinds was the result of some very good work, particularly in the mid-field, before at the ten minute mark of this opening quarter the Tigers finally scored their first goal. Gradually things on the field of play levelled out as Wandin began to play themselves back into the match and managed to open their goal-scoring account midway through the quarter. Upwey was still very hot into attack and there were scoring opportunities aplenty but, as earlier, behinds were the only result. Finally however things changed a bit and with the quarter racing to its conclusion, three goals in three minutes gave Upwey a good lead before Wandin advanced forward to score their second goal. Upwey held an eighteen point lead but deserved more following a strong opening. Upwey was immediately into attack from the opening ball-up of the second quarter and had the quarter’s opening goal on the board within the first minute of play-action and followed that up with a couple more very early on as the team was playing some inspired football. As had happened in that first quarter, Wandin now started to even things out a bit and was able to push the ball forward but, like Upwey in the opening term, could not find the goals and a string of behinds was the only reward for their efforts – although this was as much to do with the defensive pressures applied by the Upwey backs as anything else. Upwey was not helping their cause by giving away far too many free kicks mid-quarter although some of these were difficult to understand as the umpires seemed to become a little whistle happy, handing out frees hither and yon with seemingly gay abandon to the mystification of watchers and combatants alike. One was reminded of the oft repeated comments by the King of Siam in the musical comedy the King and I, “Is a puzzlement.” Mid-quarter Wandin was rewarded for their persistence with two goals but this deterred Upwey not and answered those goals with a couple of their own before the half-way point of the match was reached with Upwey having extended their lead to now thirty-four points. But thoughts of a previous meeting between these two team when Upwey led by some ten goals at the same time and still lost kept things in perspective. Wandin played better than Upwey as the third quarter began and the Tiger defence was under great pressure as the ball was being delivered deep into the territory that they were guarding constantly but fortunately for their team their efforts were reasonably successful in thwarting Wandin’s advances. One goal within the opening minutes of the quarter to Wandin followed by a string of behinds was the frustrating result for that team as the aforesaid Upwey backs struggled valiantly to stem the Wandin advancing tide. Finally Upwey ordered their play somewhat and began to gain some forward momentum and a tenth minute goal gave some much needed breathing space but Wandin then successfully advanced to score their second goal as their ever dangerous forwards finally gained full reward. Wandin had really put in a big effort in this term in the attempt of get back on level terms with Upwey but it now seemed to be running out of steam somewhat as Upwey, steady at least during the Wandin push, now fought back strongly and again began to make the running and ended the quarter with two more goals to in fact maintain their earlier lead. As a contest, the final quarter was probably the best of the match as each team put everything into this final effort. Upwey showed their intentions right from the start with a goal immediately from the opening ball-up – an important win in the context of the match. There was plenty of physical contact as the play surged from end to end but Upwey gained another important break when they scored their second goal for the quarter to further extend their lead. The umpires were still having an unwanted effect on the match as they gave some rather controversial decisions that had both sides scratching their heads in an attempt to understand the logic behind some of them but these things I guess must be borne and thrust aside but perhaps this match – of a high standard – deserved better. Wandin was still putting in a strong effort and was often able to put the ball forward with some bullet-like passes that were gratefully received by fast leading forwards and a trio of goals resulted. Upwey’s defence however was able to turn back enough of these forward thrusts to blunt the Wandin efforts and when Upwey kicked a couple of goals late in the quarter the match looked safe. Wandin did kick a late goal but even this was replied to in kind by another Tiger advance as this rather long final quarter came to an end with Upwey forty-two points in the lead and a ticket into the Senior team’s twenty-third YVMDFL Grand Final. Here at Tiger News we don’t normally individualise, believing as we do in the ethic of the team, but it would perhaps be appropriate to make mention of three players. Sam Gooley seemed to be everywhere throughout the match. Marking, kicking, hand-balling, contesting; if you wanted to know where Sam was then just look for the ball and he was sure to be near by. Daniel Waters returned to the team having missed the last five Senior team’s matches and soon showed that he had lost none of his abilities during his absence as he kicked nine goals for his team. Whether leading fast and strong, taking eye-popping marks or kicking long and straight Daniel thrilled us all. The third player in this group is defender Billy Duncan. Billy must surely have the quickest closing speed burst of any player in the League as he so often covers extensive ground to make a contest and often ends up with the ball in his fearless quests. Billy sees only the ball and woe betide anyone who happens to be between him and it. Now, I make mention of these three players not because they were better than any of our other warriors – every player contributed – but because they seem to my mind to epitomise the qualities of each of the football departments – forward, mid and back – that all worked so hard to win this match and make up for those two earlier disappointing defeats. They contributed to the overall team effort and it was the team that won. Scores: Upwey-Tecoma – 4.7.31 9.11.65 12.12.84 18.13.121 Wandin – 2.1.13 4.7.31 6.14.50 10.19.79 Best: Daniel Waters, Sam Gooley, Billy Duncan, David van Hoorn, Tom Hedge. Goals: Daniel Waters 9, Kyle Grenda 3, Sean Currey 1, Ben Hinton 1, Tom Hedge 1, Ryan van Hoorn 1, Paul Broeker 1, Sam Gooley 1. The Reserves have had a stellar season so far, not having tasted defeat to date during this season and all had hopes that this would continue as the Second Semi Final against Wandin began. Upwey started the match as if they were quite determined that this would not be the first blemish on their season and after a bit of early to and fro opened their goal scoring account with a fifth minute success and followed that up with another goal just a bare minute later as the team was playing some exciting football. Wandin interrupted the flow somewhat when they in their turn gained a goal following a couple of Upwey behinds but this would turn out to be just a minor hiccough in Upwey’s impressive advance. Upwey seemed to be winning in every position on the ground although the main drive was coming from a winning midfield as the ball was ever and again swept into attack and it was no surprise when Upwey added a further three goal before the opening quarter came to an end. Upwey’s slick use of the ball was constantly opening up the game so that there always seemed to be an Upwey player making a bit of space and using that to great advantage. The Tigers’ thirty-two point lead was justly earned. If anything, Upwey increased the tempo of their play in the second quarter. Wandin was able to rally a little and score a twelfth minute goal but unfortunately for them Upwey had put on six goals before that happened and added a further three before the siren sounded to end this second quarter. It is difficult to produce suitable superlatives to describe the Upwey team’s performance during this quarter, it was just simply terrific and perhaps the best that they have produced so far this season. Upwey’s pace and slick use of handball left their opponents looking lead-footed and all this was usually followed up with accurate finishing in front of goal. Each player cooperated with his fellow to produce a top team effort as Upwey scored nine goals and just the one behind for this second term. If this had been a gymnastics contest or such like then Upwey would have been scored a perfect ten for their first half performance. Wandin made some wholesale changes to their team for the third quarter and this did seem to revitalise their efforts while on the Upwey side of things the team suddenly seemed to have slowed right down. Perhaps there was a thought that the job had been done but of course this is never the case in any match, let alone a final and it was quite disappointing to see the change in the match. Wandin scored the first goal of the quarter, their third for the match and although Upwey did respond to that with a goal of their own, it was not the crisp team that we had seen earlier. Wandin was now putting a lot of physical pressure on their opponents, perhaps to see how they would respond and these tactics seemed to bring some success to their cause as they scored a further couple of goals before Upwey was able to respond positively with their own goal. Wandin quickly scored their fourth goal for the quarter before things began to fizzle out as the quarter meandered to its end. Wandin had put in a really big effort to salvage their position and had indeed gained some ground but they still trailed Upwey by seventy points and their cause did look lost. Upwey did regain some of their earlier poise in the final quarter but their earlier goal-front accuracy seemed to have deserted them as a seventh minute goal was accompanied by five behinds. At the other end of the ground Wandin seemed to have totally run out of steam and could manage to advance their score by just a lone behind as the match wound down to a rather tame finish. Scores: Upwey-Tecoma – 6.2.38 15.3.93 17.4.106 18.9.117 Wandin – 1.0.6 2.0.12 6.0.36 6.1.37 Best: Toby McMillan, Tim Harris, Seamus Parkinson, Josh McMillan, Mitchell Hannon. Goals: Mitchell Hannon 4, Robbie Huxtable 3, Darren Spence 3, Toby McMillan 2, Dillon Devers 1, Tyler Haugh 1, Jack Hughes 1, Alex Kelly 1, Shaun Marcus 1, Kris O’Brien 1. The Under Eighteens began their match against Wandin brightly enough and gave themselves a good number of scoring chances and after a behind to each team finally made the most of the opportunities offered and put through a brace of goals as the quarter neared its midway point. Wandin for their part were getting plenty of the ball and perhaps were using it a bit better than Upwey and it came as no surprise when that team opened its goal-scoring as the quarter neared its end. Upwey was the early leader but only just as Wandin was looking ever more dangerous. This became even more evident in the second quarter as Wandin was definitely looking the stronger team. At times Upwey looked to be a bit rattled as their defence was coming under increasing pressure as Wandin was constantly putting the ball into their forward area and but for some missed shots on goal, would have ended this second quarter with a strong lead. As it was Wandin went into the half-time break holding an eleven point lead but looking the better team. Upwey started the third quarter brightly enough and had an early goal on the board to lift their spirits but then it was Wandin who again steadied things into their direction. That team was using the ball much better than Upwey and was able to consistently find players in space and had the Tiger defence in constant danger of being outflanked. Fortunately for Upwey, that defence was able to turn back many of Wandin’s advances but unfortunately not all and Wandin finished the quarter with a couple of goals. In retrospect Upwey had done quite well to hold out Wandin’s play as they had and indeed managed to outscore them, even if by just one behind, so that they trailed by ten points at the final change. An early goal to Wandin as the final quarter began put extra pressure on Upwey and although the Tigers did respond with a goal of their own a bit later, it soon became obvious that Wandin were still playing the better and when that team answered that Upwey goal immediately, the Tigers’ cause become very difficult. A third goal for the quarter later on to Wandin sealed the issue and Upwey went down by twenty-five points and must face up to Woori Yallock in the Preliminary Final next Sunday if they are to have another crack at Wandin in the Grand Final. Scores: Upwey-Tecoma – 2.2.14 2.4.16 4.5.29 5.3.33 Wandin – 1.4.10 3.9.27 5.9.39 8.10.58 Best: Mitchell Waterman, James Gray, Liam Beacom, Jackson Waters, James Robertson. Goals: Jackson Barnard 1, Matthew Chambers 1, Will Mutschler, Damon Torrance 1, Jackson Waters 1. Like the Reserve footballers, the A Grade netball team had not suffered defeat coming into this Second Semi Final and hopes were naturally high of continuing that success into the Grand Final with a win against opponents Belgrave. The opening quarter was an even affair with neither team really getting on top and Belgrave led narrowly at its end by just three goals. The second quarter was much the same as its predecessor with each team adding a further twelve gaols to leave things much as they had been, at least score-wise. Upwey had had plenty of chances to get ahead during this period but missed a good number of goaling chances that would surely come home to haunt them before the match would finish. Belgrave made their major bid for victory in the third quarter as they outplayed Upwey to score a further fifteen goals to Upwey’s eight so that they went into the final quarter holding a ten goal lead. Upwey tried everything to bridge that gap in the final quarter and did make big inroads as they gradually drew closer to Belgrave but eventually failed by four goals with the final scores Upwey-Tecoma 44 to Belgrave 48. Best for Upwey were Jordyn Lingard, Greta Hankinson and Melanie Walter while the goals were scored by Tess Linkins with 19, Jordyn Lingard 18 and Maree Gold 7. The B Reserve team was playing Emerald in their Semi Final and they quickly went into the lead in the opening quarter, scoring thirteen goals to Emerald’s five. The second term was a bit closer but Upwey still was able to extend their lead as they finished the first half of the match holding a thirteen goal lead and looking pretty good in doing so. Emerald lifted their play in the third term and in fact outscored Upwey, reducing their deficit margin by two goals but then, in the final quarter Upwey again took control of the match and closed out things to win by a healthy margin of seventeen goals and set themselves for a tilt at a Grand Final appearance. The final scores in the match were Upwey-Tecoma 42 with Emerald on 25. The best players for Upwey were Michelle Tomlinson, Kelly Hunt and Brooke van Keulen while the goals came from Michelle Tomlinson with 22 and Kelly Hunt 20. With the Senior and Reserve football teams and the B Reserve netballers going straight into the Grand Final, the Under Eighteens and the A Grade netballers must now face up to Woori Yallock and Mt. Evelyn respectively in the Preliminary Finals to be played at Gembrook next Sunday and we will need a good roll-up of Upwey Footy Fans to cheer them on so do your best to be present as we try to get five teams into the Grand Finals. Well, that really does wraps things up for what had been a most eventful Saturday’s sport and until we get together again remember, when in doubt. . . mumble. See Ya, Tezza.
Posted on: Sun, 08 Sep 2013 06:04:16 +0000
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