GIANT start to NEAFL

A young Greater Western Sydney GIANTS squad made history on Saturday, winning their first ever game in the new North East Australian Football League against Ainslie Football Club. The GIANTS put in a solid performance in the first quarter and continued to work hard throughout a physical clash to eventually beat last year’s Canberra league premiers by 41 points.

The first quarter saw the GIANTS come out strongly. Ainslie kicked the first goal of the match, followed closely by an impressive mark from Gerald Ugle, who booted the ball up to Andrew Phillips before Phillips was given a 50 metre penalty and kicked the GIANTS first of 16 goals. Stephen Clifton put the GIANTS in front ten minutes into the first term, booting a goal from outside the 50-meter mark. Scores were level half way through the first quarter before some great pressure from the GIANTS forward line saw Ainslie give away a free kick for holding the ball, resulting in another GIANTS goal. The GIANTS continued their run into quarter time, with Anthony Miles putting pressure on Ainslie to turn the ball over, allowing Simon Tunbridge to kick a running goal heading in to the first break.

In his third game for the GIANTS, Victorian Ben Casley took an impressive one-handed mark in the forward line at the beginning of the second quarter, kicking his first goal of the day. Simon Tunbridge kicked two goals in the second term, running around two Ainslie players in the goal square to put the GIANTS up by 14 points. At the half way mark of the match, the GIANTS led Ainslie 7.6.48 to 5.5.35.

Dylan Shiel opened the scoring in the second half of the game, picking up a loose ball in the forward line and slotting it through the posts. The midfield continued to put pressure on Ainslie, with the home team struggling to move the ball through the middle of the ground in the third term. One of the highlights of the match came from #24 Stephen Clifton who booted the ball from outside the 50-meter mark high into the GIANTS goal square. Clifton ran towards the square, picked up the loose ball from the bottom of the pack and snapped a goal. Seventeen-year-old Adam Flagg rounded out a strong third quarter for the away team, kicking two goals to leave the GIANTS ahead by 37 points going into the final break.

The GIANTS built on their lead in the fourth quarter and continued to put pressure on the ball in the midfield and backline. In his third AFL match, Israel Folau laid a heavy tackle in the final term to cheers and applause from the GIANTS fans. Dylan Shiel opened the scoring again in the last quarter, kicking a running goal before a mark and 50 meter penalty saw Anthony Miles kick his first goal of the day. Another goal each to Ben Casley and Jeremy Cameron allowed the GIANTS to steam home with a 41-point victory over Ainslie.

After kicking two goals for the day, #8 Jeremy Cameron smiled through his post match interview, applauding his teammates for their determination and for maintaining their work ethic in the latter half of the match.

“It was great to get out on the field today and get our first win as a team, it feels really good so hopefully we continue to improve throughout the season and get a lot more of them.

“It was a tough hit out, at half time the coaches told us that we just had to keep working and keep doing what we had been doing in the first half. We just kept pushing hard in the third and fourth quarter and finished off the game really well.

“All the boys put in a really good game, we had patches that we will look at and need to improve on for next week. It’s great that we don’t just have one or two goal kickers; we got to share the goals around today. We used everybody was down there, a couple of midfielders pushed through as well and even a few back men.

“I think that everyone will pull up okay, there were no major injuries which was good. It was a tough hit out but great to get the win,” he said.

GWS GIANTS

16.13.109

Ainslie FC

9.14.68

GIANTS goal kickers

Simon Tunbridge 3, Stephen Clifton 2, Jeremy Cameron 2, Ben Casley 2, Adam Flagg 2, Dylan Shiel 2, Andrew Phillips 1, Jarrod Harding 1, Anthony Miles 1

Best

Shiel, Giles, Clifton, Hombsch