G’Day Footy Fans, Well, Saturday was the final match of the home and away season and all of our teams would be playing Mt. Evelyn at The Dome. Although their had been plenty of rain over the past couple of days the playing surface was in pretty good nick apart from a couple of softish patches here and there but nothing to really trouble anyone and the day itself was nice and fine and so all was set for our day of sporting endeavours. With no Under Eighteens match it was a bit of a late start which was not unwelcome. In the Seniors, Mt. Evelyn have had a bit of an iffy season and had spent most of the season in the lower middle order of the ladder but as can happen now and then, a team in such a position can put in a big effort so that they can finish off the season on a high note and of course they had defeated us in our home encounter last season – although that was during our “bad” period. For our guys, a win would ensure top spot on the ladder with all the advantages accruing to that position. The first few minutes of the opening quarter of the match began in normal fashion with each team making early efforts to gain the positive running and it was Mt. Evelyn who drew first blood with, firstly, a behind and then followed that up immediately with the opening goal of the match. Not much would go right for the visitors however for the remainder of the first quarter as Upwey now began to play some really wonderful football. It was not too long before Upwey had an answering goal on board and then many more followed. Upwey now had winners all over the ground as the home team’s slick use of handball and position foot passing was causing the opposition all kinds of trouble. On the few occasions that Mt. Evelyn did make some forward progress, the mean-minded Tiger defence turned them back and invariably put their team into a scoring position. It was copybook football and when the siren sounded to end this opening quarter of play Upwey had been rewarded with ten goals to their opponents one. Upwey scored an early goal as the second quarter got under way but then things steadied down a bit as Mt. Evelyn made every effort to put the brakes on Upwey’s mayhem progress and to an extent succeeded in this, at least for a while. Indeed, it would be almost ten minutes before Upwey would again claim a score and that a behind but then that was followed up shortly after with the Tigers’ second goal of the quarter. But now Mt. Evelyn finally had something to cheer about as they notched their second goal of the match but those cheers would soon fade and be forgotten as Upwey now returned to their early match form and closed out the quarter with a trio of goals to go to the half-time break now holding a rather commanding eighty-one point lead. Upwey should have been able to really monster their opponents as the third quarter began but instead they seemed to begin lairising a bit. They began to indulge in an excess of handball that did appear to be rather over done and far too often all these handballs were just getting them deeper into trouble and far too many turnovers resulted. The same could be said for much of the foot passing where kicks were sent to players who were outnumbered. This perhaps gave Mt. Evelyn a bit of heart when none had previously existed and they had their most productive quarter to date, adding three goals to their rather meagre total. Certainly Upwey replied with four goals of their own to slightly increase their lead but it was a rather disappointing period. Maybe their was some plan in progress of which we mere spectators new nothing. Mt. Evelyn gained first blood as the final quarter began with an opening minute goal and then a second but then some normality was restored to the match as Upwey started to play a bit more positively with more purpose in their efforts although there still seemed to be a few too many turnovers of the ball but still the team was looking more like they had in the early parts of the match. Five goals came at fairly frequent intervals and although Mt. Evelyn did manage a third goal before the match ended it had been very comfortable ninety-seven point win and of course top spot on the final ladder was assured. Now for a week off for rest and recuperation before facing up for the second semi-final. Scores: Upwey-Tecoma – 10.6.66 15.9.99 19.13.127 24.15.159 Mt. Evelyn – 1.4.10 2.6.18 5.9.39 8.14.62 Best: Tom Hedge, Kyle Grenda, Sam Gooley, Tom Robinson, Billy Duncan. Goals: Tom Hedge 6, Tom Robinson 6, Kyle Grenda 3, Sean Currey 2, Blair Sheppard 2, Dylan Sloane 1, Jake Dunn 1, Chad Davis 1, Ryan van Hoorn 1, Tyson Heinrich 1. If Mt. Evelyn were to win the Reserves match then they could possibly advance to the third rung of the ladder and thus gain a double chance in the finals while for Upwey a win would maintain there lossless season so each team had ample reason to want to win this contest. Had a casual observer watched this match and ignored the scoreboard then he would have gained the impression that it was a very tight engagement that he was observing but a glance at the scoreboard would have told a different tale – Upwey winning comfortably. Such a watcher would then perhaps have perceived that Upwey was in fact playing a much more crisp game with much better use of the ball and a much greater spread of player ability that enabled them to make greater use of any opportunities that arose to further their cause while Mt. Evelyn was concentrating on a more negating game plan as they challenged each Upwey opponent certainly but in the end, merely appearing to be making a close contest of the match. The early part of the opening quarter was a comparatively close affair, as such so often are and although Upwey did score a couple of goals to open things, Mt. Evelyn was able to successfully contain the home team for a reasonable period before, as the quarter advanced, the Tiger Team gradually began to move ahead in the contest and gained a couple of goals as this opening term closed. The second quarter was a case of Upwey playing steady football as they were able to make plenty of forward entries but things were still tight. For their part, Mt. Evelyn was getting plenty of the ball and pushing forward many times only to see the Upwey defence, tight as always, turn them out. Although the Mt. Evelyn defence likewise was able to bottle up play on the Upwey forward zone, enough of Upwey’s forward moves got through to allow Upwey to add a further three goals to their total while their backs had limited the visitors to just one behind so that, with half the match now over, Upwey’s lead stood at a rather healthy thirty-six points. The third quarter continued the pattern as before – the match looking a reasonably even contest in general play but in reality Upwey was doing things just a bit better, more productively, that Mt. Evelyn and so the home team’s score continued to mount. This match reminded me of watching Greg Chappell batting in his pomp: one didn’t think that he had done all that much until suddenly one realised that he had scored forty runs and so it was with this Upwey team’s progress. It seemed to be a close contest until one glanced at the scoreboard and realised that Upwey had in fact gained another three or four goals while the opposition was going nowhere. In fact, for the third quarter Upwey did indeed add a further four goals while Mt. Evelyn had in fact doubled their score by kicking one goal and two behinds. But they were dropping further behind the further the match went. The final quarter did nothing to change the sequence of events established previously as Upwey made excellent use of the ball and always seemed to have a player in space waiting to move the ball a bit further along and although Mt. Evelyn certainly challenged where they could, it availed them little as Upwey, ever consistent, added a further four goals to their tally while restricting Mt. Evelyn again to just the one major result and a few behinds. At the end, Upwey ran out easy scoreboard winners by eighty-eight points, no doubt much to the astonishment of that aforementioned casual watcher who finally did look at the scoreboard. Scores: Upwey-Tecoma – 4.0.24 7.2.44 11.3.69 15.3.93 Mt. Evelyn – 1.1.7 1.2.8 2.4.16 3.7.25 Best: Dillon Devers, Jaydn Orger, Daniel Waters, Ben Cull, Toby McMillan. Goals: Daniel Waters 6, Jaydn Orger 3, Darren Spence 2, Alex Kelly 1, Shaun Marcus 1, Toby McMillan 1, Dylan Price 1. As with their footballing compatriots, the netball also had some important matches and none more so that in the A Grade where Upwey was up against second team Mt. Evelyn and although Upwey’s hold on top ladder spot was not under threat, their clean sheet of winning results this season certainly was. Mt. Evelyn has been something of a netballing powerhouse in recent seasons and this would make an Upwey win even more significant. The opening quarter was reasonably close, Upwey led by five goals at its end, but then the home team began to forge ahead as they extended their lead with each succeeding quarter of play so that when the match ended, Upwey were winners by twenty-four goals in an excellent way to set up for the finals matches to come. The final scores were Upwey-Tecoma 59 to Mt. Evelyn 35. Best for Upwey were Mel Walter, Jordan Lingard and Tess Linkins while the goal shooters were Tess Linkins 32, Jordan Lingard 19 and Maree Gold with 8. In the A Reserve Mt. Evelyn sit atop the ladder and it would take a big effort if Upwey were to upset the leaders. The Upwey ladies did in fact put up a great struggle as they made every effort to take the game right up to their more fancied opponents but were just unable to restrict them enough. Final scores in this match were Upwey-Tecoma 32 to Mt. Evelyn 58. Upwey’s best were Penny Oliver, Sarah Harris and Jasmine Schubert while Upwey’s goals came from Jasmine Schubert 17 and Jordi Elms 15. The B Grade team were always going to have a tough time in their encounter with top side Mt. Evelyn and such it proved to be. This young team has battled womanfully all season against often more experienced opposition but have always stuck to their task no matter what the odds. Perhaps they really do need a little bit of in-team support if they are to advance successfully. The final scores in this match were Upwey-Tecoma 21 to Mt. Evelyn 57. Best players for Upwey were Jade Bell, Lisa Hannon and Emma Hedge while the goals come from Emma Hedge 15 and Emily Dowling 6. The B Reserve match was a contest to see who would occupy second spot on the ladder as the double chance was secure for each team no matter what the result. As it turned out, both teams soon showed that this was a match that was very much worth the winning as every player on the court poured their all in the task of taking out the points. Mt. Evelyn held slight sway in the opening quarter, but only just as they led by two goals at the first break and the even contest continued in the second quarter as each team added a further seven goals to their score. Mt. Evelyn made a big effort to tie up the match in the third quarter as they outscored Upwey to enter the final quarter with now a six goal lead. Upwey was more than equal to this challenge and put in one of their best quarters of netball to gradually close the gap. Nine goals to three in Upwey’s favour was an excellent result but just not quite enough to take out the four points as the match ended in perhaps a fitting result of a draw. The two teams will meet again in next Saturday’s Qualifying Final when battle will be resumed. The final scores in the match were Upwey-Tecoma 26 and Mt. Evelyn 26. Best for Upwey were Tanya Newman, Brooke van Keulen and Kelly Hunt. Upwey’s goals came from Kelly Hunt 19 and Brenda van Keulen 7. Next Saturday we will have two of our teams in action when the Under Eighteens and the B Reserve netballers each play in their Qualifying Finals which are scheduled to be played at Yea and naturally it would be great if as many supporters as possible were to make the trip and encourage these two teams as they seek to advance. The Under Eighteens will be up against Seville while the netballers will once again play Mt. Evelyn. No doubt the Club will notify all Footy Fans of definite match arrangements during the week. I realise that it is an early start at a distant venue but it’s a small sacrifice to make for these wonderful players. Well, that just about wraps things up as we move into the finals action and so until next time remember, after all is said and done, more is said than done. See Ya, Tezza.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Aug 2013 08:06:30 +0000
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