G’Day Footy Fans, Well, back home at The Dome for the second last match of the home and away series and it would be against one of our fiercest rivals in Woori Yallock. This would be a quite important match for the Senior and Under Eighteen teams and less so for the Reserves. In the netball our A Grade team would be anxious to retain their perfect record of wins while the B Grade match was even more important as it would be a chance for them to break the ice. Following a very windy Friday, Saturday turned out to be not too bad although there was still a freshish breeze that drifted across the ground and did mean that some care was required when kicking near to the tennis court boundary line but really, not too bad and as the matches proceeded players seemed to be reasonably untroubled. The early-starters at the ground quickly discovered one big problem – no electricity, a fallen tree on the highway having interrupted supply. Once again our profit-high but man-power low privatised electricity providers showed that they are really not quite up to the job and it was many hours before supply was finally restored. Oh for the much more efficient days of yore. Full marks to those who worked so hard to obtain some alternative power supply through portable generators and such. This was a very important match of course for the Senior team as Woori Yallock were sitting in third spot on the ladder and a loss for them would put their finals double chance in jeopardy while for our men, a win was needed to keep us in top spot. Over the years Woori have been a very tough nut to crack and we could see no reason why this meeting would be any different. The first quarter opened with and developed into a fairly physical contest as members of each team seemed to want to “feel each other out”. There were plenty of tackles laid on both sides with the result that the play was a bit congested to begin with. Those tackling tactics would continue for most of the remainder of the match although, perhaps in my rather rare showing of hometown bias, I rather thought that Upwey’s tackling was rather more sustained and a bit more effective. Woori Yallock was the first team to score – a behind – early in the quarter but then a rather lengthy period of play when neither team was making any real progress, although it did appear as if, at this very early stage of the match, Woori was getting the ball into their forward area a bit more than Upwey. At any rate that team was the first to claim a major score when they goaled some eight minutes in. But now it was Upwey’s turn to take over the attacking role and they were able to gain some forward entries and it was just a couple of minutes later that they also goaled so that on both the field of play and the scoreboard their was little in it. Upwey was now however getting plenty of the ball in their forward area but a combination of some indifferent forward passing and stout defence from the Woori backs kept Upwey from scoring. Finally however the Upwey captain Ryan van Hoorn, in typical fashion, broke the impasse when he grabbed the ball and ran straight and strong to score his team’s second goal. Just a minute later Tom Hedge equalled that effort in a more traditional fashion to bring up Upwey’s third goal. Woori Yallock very quickly showed that they were still very much in the game as they were now able to move the ball quickly into their own forward area and their efforts were crowned with their second goal as the match remained close. It was about now that the play was interrupted by a dog running onto the ground and some four minutes of time was lost in the attempt to corral this animal and eject it. Why some people will insist in bringing their dogs to the football is quite beyond me, they are so often a nuisance to all and there is always the ever present danger of an uncontrolled animal invading the playing surface with the equally present danger of a player suffering an injury as a result. The message is surely quite clear – leave them at home. Eventually play resumed and the quarter moved to its conclusion with each team scoring an additional behind so that Upwey’s quarter-time lead was seven points but the match result was very much in the balance. Events advanced apace as the second quarter began as Upwey, with their midfield gaining some control, was able to move the ball into attack constantly and the team was rewarded for their efforts with three goals within the opening five minutes of play. Woori then showed that they were still in the game as they managed to move the ball forward from the centre ball-up and gained their own opening goal of the quarter to give their fans a reason to cheer but it would be some time before that cheer would be repeated. Upwey’s slick use of handball was causing the opposition problems and when a Woori Yallock player did manage to get his hands on the ball, repeated strong Upwey tackling so often caused the Woori possessor to become unpossessed. Upwey scored a couple of goals at some regularly spaced time intervals before, at the twenty-five minute mark of the quarter, Woori gained their second goal of the quarter but that brought little joy to their cause as Upwey closed out this second quarter with two more goals. Upwey’s lead at the half-time break now stood at thirty-nine points. It couldn’t be said that Upwey had been completely dominant during this quarter although they had certainly outplayed Woori Yallock for much of the time but much was still to be done before the match would be safe. Two goals and two behinds to Upwey in the early part of the third quarter was answered by Woori Yallock with a couple of behinds as Upwey really did begin to play some quality football but then a period of nonscoring by either team followed which was finally broken with an Upwey behind. Woori Yallock then managed to gain their first goal for the quarter in a rare forward success. The ball now seemed to be perpetually in Upwey’s scoring zone and on the rare times that Woori did construct a forward entry Upwey’s defence stood firm and cleared the ball, invariably to an upfield team mate’s advantage. Upwey’s tenacious tackling was causing Woori opponents some discomfort while, with astute handball, Upwey was able to so often find a bit of space where none had seemed available. All this combined to allow Upwey to close out the remainder of the quarter with a goal blitz as the team scored a further five goals in the remaining twelve minutes of play and gather for the three-quarter time discussion with a more than handy eighty-three point lead to take into the final quarter. Woori got off to a promising start as they goaled in the opening minute of the final quarter but they still had a very long way to go and not any realistic hope of getting there, especially when Upwey soon responded to that Woori Yallock goal with, first, a behind and then an answering goal. Upwey followed up that success with another two goals over the next three minutes or so and the match was done as a contest. Another couple of goals to Upwey was interspersed with a second goal for the quarter to Woori as the match wound down to its now inevitable conclusion as Upwey ran out winners by a rather commanding 101 points. Incidentally, this is the third biggest winning margin that we have had over Woori Yallock, surpassed only by the 1994 margin of 122 points and the 105 point win in 1997. Scores: Upwey-Tecoma – 3.2.20 10.5.65 18.9.117 23.12.150 Woori Yallock – 2.1.13 4.2.26 5.4.34 7.7.49 Best: Tom Hedge, Sam Gooley, Ryan van Hoorn, Kyle Grenda, Billy Duncan. Goals: Tom Hedge 5, Kyle Grenda 4, Ryan van Hoorn 4, Tom Robinson 3, Chad Davis 2, Sean Currey 1, Jaydn Orger1, Sam Gooley 1, Chris Brown 1, Steve Dawson 1. Woori Yallock have really struggled in the Reserves this season and their club hierarchy must hope that their Senior team does not have any injury problems as there is no ready replacements in their Reserves team. The opening quarter rather set the pattern for the match as a whole as Upwey, winning everywhere on the ground, peppered the goals area and reaped the benefits of some considered football where every player in yellow and black stripes was prepared to give the ball to advantage. Five goals was Upwey’s reward for the good work while Woori Yallock, in one purple patch, gained some scoreboard satisfaction with their own goal – but just one. The second and third quarters followed the pattern set in the opening term as Upwey added six goals in each of them while Woori Yallock’s side of the scoreboard remained unchanged. Five goals to Upwey in the final quarter was interesting but the highlight was that Woori finally added to their score with a behind. The excitement level of the match was not very high as Upwey players lined up to kick goals and in the end eleven Upwey players succeeded in that endeavour. A comprehensive win to the Reserves but a greater challenge would have been welcomed, particularly at this stage of the season. Scores: Upwey-Tecoma – 5.3.33 11.8.74 17.14.116 22.20.152 Woori Yallock – 1.1.7 1.1.7 1.1.7 1.2.8 Best: Rylie Hannagan, Daniel Waters, Brenton Jones, Josh McMillan, Jack Hughes. Goals: Darren Spence 7, Mitchell Hannon 2, Tyler Haugh 2, Alex Kelly 2, Ken Sato 2, Daniel Waters 2, Jack Hughes 1, Brenton Jones 1, Shaun Marcus 1, Joel Wille 1, Dylan Proce 1. The Under Eighteen team has struggled a bit over the past couple of weeks with two losses causing them to drop from top ladder spot down to fourth and now in the final match of the home and away series they would be up against third placed Woori Yallock. If they could manage a win then they would replace Woori in that third spot and gain the all important double chance in the finals. However it would need a big effort from our young men if they were to succeed in this endeavour. Upwey opened brightly with a goal just a minute or two into the opening quarter and followed that up with a behind a short while later as they looked keen to take the task up to their opponents. Woori now steadied things a little as they began to assert a little authority into the match and started to look perhaps a little better than Upwey as they scored a couple of goals mid-quarter. It was pretty fierce contest at this stage with all players prepared to throw themselves into the fray. Finally some very good work by Upwey saw them add a late goal to their score and the home team led by a solitary point at the end of an absorbing first quarter. Woori Yallock opened the scoring in the second quarter with a first minute goal to regain the lead but then the match pattern changed rather dramatically as Upwey answered that Woori score with a goal of their own immediately and then proceed to play perhaps their best football for a couple of weeks. Using great team work and efficient ball-passing, whether by hand or foot, Upwey kept putting the ball into their scoring zone and although just a couple of behinds was the early reward they could not be long denied goal-scoring success and a tenth minute goal put them a bit further ahead. The endeavour of this young group kept them in attack as they constantly sought and found team mates in open space and following another brace of behinds scored yet another goal and finished the quarter with a half-time lead of seventeen points which had been the result of a very polished, team-oriented effort. As the third quarter began Upwey seemed to have left their second quarter form behind them in the change rooms as it was now Woori Yallock that set the tone of the contest. Three goals spread through the opening half of the play-period had the visitors back in front as they had kept Upwey scoreless at this stage and perhaps some Footy Fans feared a shut-our for Upwey; not however the team members. As the quarter advanced Upwey gradually gathered themselves together as the midfield began to get on top of their opponents and thus greater forward opportunities began to eventuate and the players up forward took advantage and closed the quarter out with a couple of goals to regain both the lead and their slightly dented confidence. Upwey led now by eleven points and it was a determined group of Upwey players who gathered for the three-quarter time break. Woori Yallock put in a big effort at the start of the final term, attacking hard in the opening minutes but Upwey’s defence stood strong and the visitors could only gain a couple of behinds for their efforts. It was a defensive game for some time now with each team striving hard to gain a break and the ball was moving from defensive line to defensive line before Upwey finally broke the deadlock and scored a mid-quarter goal to extend their lead and followed that up with a second goal to go further ahead. Woori however was far from finished and put the ball forward to finally pierce Upwey’s defence for their first goal of the quarter to reduce their deficit. But time was running out and although Woori scored a late goal it was not enough and Upwey ran out deserved winners by eleven points. This was a great triumph for the Eighteens as it takes a team of fine spirit to shrug off a lean period and defeat a doughty opponent in a vital match and their reward, apart from the win, is elevation to the third rung on the ladder and the benefits associated with that position. The team has a blank week ahead of them as, due to the curious set up of the Under Eighteen’s competition, they will have to wait for an extra week before their finals campaign begins in the Qualifying Final against Seville. Scores: Upwey-Tecoma – 2.1.13 5.6.36 7.8.50 9.10.64 Woori Yallock – 2.0.12 3.1.19 6.3.39 8.5.53 Best: Will Mutschler, Jackson Waters, Liam Wale-Buxton, James Gray, Liam Beacom, Brent King. The A Grade netballers kept their undefeated season intact with a very comfortable win over Woori Yallock as the team opened up a sixteen goal advantage in the opening quarter and maintained, and indeed increased, that lead as the match progressed to eventually run out winners by some sixty-six goals. Perhaps the most interesting thing to come out of this match was the level of symmetry in Upwey’s scoring as they scored twenty goals in each quarter. The final scores were Upwey-Tecoma 80 to Woori Yallock 14. Best for the winners were Jordan Lingard, Mel Walter and Krista Tomlinson while the goals were scored by Tess Linkins 30, Jordan Lingard 25 and Maree Gold 25. The A Reserve team also had a very good win over Woori Yallock and although there was probably not too much hanging on the result it does perhaps give the team something to build upon. The final scores were Upwey-Tecoma 53 to Woori Yallock 12. Upwey’s best players were Jordi Elms, Jessica Elms and Rebecca Cuthell while the goals for Upwey were scored by Jordi Elms 29 and Jessica Elms 24 The B Grade battled hard against Woori Yallock in their match and just failed to make the grade. Trailing by five goals at the end of the opening quarter, the team put their collective heads down and strove valiantly to make up the leeway. Although they did manage to outscore Woori Yallock over the next three quarters it was unfortunately not quite enough and in the end Woori Yallock finished four goals in front. Final scores were Upwey-Tecoma 31 to Woori Yallock 35. Best for Upwey were Michelle Johnson, Kate Hansen and Emily Dowling while Upwey’s goals came from Emma Hedge 17 and Emily Dowling 14. Upwey’s B Reserve Team showed a clean pair of heels to their Woori Yallock opponents with a comfortable forty-nine goal win. The team established a thirteen goal lead by the end of the opening quarter and was able to increase that lead as the match advanced as they played some excellent netball against a rather struggling opponent. The final scores in the match were Upwey-Tecoma 66 to Woori Yallock 17. The best players were Kelly Hunt, Broke van Keulen and Jacqui Cooke. The successful goal shooters for Upwey were Kelly Hunt with 36 and Michelle Tomlinson 30. Next Saturday our netballers are all up against Mount Evelyn and that club’s teams are always tough to beat. For the A and B Reserve teams, wins are needed if they are to maintain their high ladder positions while for the A Reserve and B Grade teams a win will round out the season for them on a positive note. On the football scene, although neither of Mt. Evelyn’s teams in the Senior and Reserve competitions will be taking part in any finals action, they will be sure to be anxious to end their season on a positive note while for our Senior team in particular a win is imperative if we are to hold on to our ladder-leading spot. Well, that just about wraps things up for this, the penultimate round of matches and it at this time that we ask ourselves, “Where did the season go.” But there is still of course one more match to go and one more turnout at The Dome so join me there if you can and in any case remember, a diplomat is someone who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you look forward to the trip. See Ya, Tezza.
Posted on: Sun, 18 Aug 2013 23:28:46 +0000
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