Independent schools match reports

Five AFL games were played at Bus Loop Oval, Moore Park for Round 3 of the ISA AFL competition.

Once again the sun was out and provided a fantastic day for footy.

While Round 2 was a showcase of great defensive efforts and standout performances from fullbacks and backs, round 3 highlighted the improving skills of individual players and the growing confidence of teams.

The conditions in the first quarter were slippery due to a heavy dew on the field.

The boys from both teams showed strong ball skills and control in the damp conditions.

After the oval dried out in the second quarter the teams were able to move the ball more freely, which allowed the game to open up with plenty of long kicks and some very fine marks.

As expected from these two teams there were some tough contests and all of the players should be very proud of their efforts.

The teams were evenly matched for goals in the first quarter.

In the second and third the score seesawed, with the teams again even on goals starting the final quarter.

At full-time St Patricks were able to claim the win by three points from a very determined Knox team.

Stand out players included J. Naganayagam (#16 KG), J. Canchhi (#30 St P), H. Peden (#27 KG), Joseph S. (#32 St P), D. Ravenhall (#4 KG) and L. O’Neil (#1 St P).

Goal Kickers:

Redlands charged into the game from the beginning, being very strong in the centre and moving the ball forward with resolute plays, displaying strong kicks and determined marking.

The boys also showed a willingness to have a run with the ball.

The boys from St Ignatius showed their fortitude and put up some good attacking plays, however their early efforts were overcome by a strong Redlands backline.

At the end of the first quarter Redlands had a very strong grip on the game four goals to St Ignatius’ one.

In the second quarter St Ignatius dug deep, displaying fine ball skills and a determined team effort to take the game back to Redlands.

At half time Redlands were still in control five goals to two, however St Ignatius had many kicks at goal that just strayed.

The third quarter was a physical encounter with both teams displaying their skill and courage moving the ball around the oval.

St Ignatius was able to score a nice goal while preventing Redlands from kicking a goal in the third quarter.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter the score was five goals to three in favour of Redlands.

St Ignatius displayed a determination to keep the contest going against the robust Redlands boys.

In a quarter where there were eight scoring kicks on goal, St Ignatius were able to gain the victory by a single point.

A very good game of football from both sides.

Special mention to C. Taylor (#39 SIC), H. Garrett (#14 R), N. Pignone (#21 SIC), H. Quibell-Arnott (#12 R), O. Reid (#4 R) and D. Marshall (#36 SIC) for their high level of ball skills and game play.

Goal Kickers:

The first of the Year 7/8 games saw Shore taking on St Ignatius 1.

In what would be a low scoring affair, both teams came out strong against each other.

The first quarter was a disciplined and physical effort from both teams, with neither side able to kick a goal.

During the second quarter St Ignatius were able to kick themselves a four goal lead, while preventing an unwavering Shore from getting the ball through their defence.

In the third quarter Shore was able to return the favour, kicking two goals and thwarting St Ignatius in their attempts to land a goal.

In the final quarter Shore came out hard early attacking the St Ignatius goal, but were unable to kick a goal.

St Ignatius looked to have wrapped up the game with a goal mid way through the final quarter, however Shore never gave up and in the late stages were able to kick two goals and looked set to charge in the final minutes of the game.

In a game that saw the ball travel to all areas of the oval, through strong kicks and determined individual runs, both teams displayed their improving skills and game play.

Unfortunately for Shore, the St Ignatius defence was able to slow them down enough that time run out before Shore could complete their strong second half comeback, St Ignatius taking the win by four points.

Best On Ground:

Shore: 1. #4 N. Gardiner, 2. #12 J. Toussaint, 3. #18 J. Van Homrigh, 4. #11 C. Taylor, 5. #22 L. Russo, 6. #17 M. Moran

St Ignatius: 1. #3 P. Roseby, 2. #17 R. Warner, 3. #34 M. Luvio, 4. #2 T. Van Dowgen, 5. #59 T. Gorman, 6. #35 N. Luvio

Goal Kickers:

Shore   

The second of the Year 7/8 games was played between Cranbrook and St Ignatius 2.

The St Ignatius boys came out with a well-organised attacking game and showed good strength in and around the ruck.

The Cranbrook boys kept their chins up and were successful in slowing the St Ignatius attack.

Cranbrook were rewarded for their disciplined play with goals in the final quarters.

At the final siren St Ignatius was able to claim the win.

The players from both teams displayed improved skills with the ball and a committed effort to the game.

Best On Ground:

Cranbrook: 1. #31 M. Geddes, 2. #27 Z. Hamilton, 3. #23 C. Henty Brown, 4. #4 C. Hattam, 5. #1 A. Watts, 6. #15 W. Keith

St Ignatius. #89 Lumsden, 2. #49 Kennedy, 3. #45 Woodward, 4. #84 Kirk, 5. #22 Cullican, 6. #18 Hurford

Goal Kickers:

Both teams started very strongly and displayed a willingness to play around the boundaries of the oval.

As with previous rounds in the year 9/10 age group this game was played with intensity and speed that is a pleasure to watch.

The boys also continue to exhibit a high level of sportsmanship.

During the first quarter both teams attempted strong kicks at goal from difficult angles, however the respective defence were able to stop these goals.

At the end of the quarter only one point separated the teams.

During the second quarter Waverley were able to kick three goals to Cranbrook’s one and went into the half time break with a handy lead.

In the final two quarters both teams maintained the intensity with determined plays and strong teamwork.

Cranbrook kicked three goals in each of the final quarters to maintain pressure on Waverley.

Waverley were able to keep the momentum, kicking four goals in each of the final quarters.

Waverley 77 def Cranbrook 46

Best On Ground:

Cranbrook: #1. #21 J. Whaling, 2. #13 W. Baden, 3. #36 E. Lewis, 4. #33 N. Aboud, 5. #27 W. Haynes, 6. #3 K. Shapiro

Waverley: #26 J. Howell, 2. #27 W. Tyson, 3. #3 J. Pawle, 4. #12 N. Blakey, 5. #42 A. Lawther, 6. #43 J. Mason

Goal Kickers:

ELS Hall, North Ryde

Year 5/6 – Trinity Grammar vs. St Aloysius 2

Trinity Grammar was behind on the scoreboard at half-time but came out in the 2nd half with plenty of gusto and obtained a strong victory.

Parents of the Trinity Grammar boys of the sideline were particularly excited with this result, as it was Trinity Grammar’s first win of the season.

Best on ground for Trinity was Anton Denmark, with great supporting efforts from Ethan Brouw (who went for dashing runs with the ball twice), Nicholas Nikiforidis (whose excellent tackle resulted in a goal and set the tone for his teammates), Jasper McCullagh (who took a courageous mark in the 1st quarter), Jonathan Titmarsh (who kicked a great goal after dodging two players) and Garry Koshnitsky.

Liam Ling also deserved praise for setting up a fantastic team lifting goal.

All in all, it was a great team effort.

St Aloysius College had a series of great performances, especially in the first half.

Evan Perkovic was best on ground for St Aloysius, and he was pumped to score a memorable goal after dodging around a potential tackler.

Harry Rudd and Henry Inwood were also standout players as they were willing to take the game on and went for long runs down the wing.

Goal scorer: Evan Perkovic (2 goals)

Year 5/6 – St Aloysius 1 vs. Waverley 2

St Aloysius exploded out of the blocks from the get-go in this match and established early dominance on the scoreboard, yet Waverley was courageous and ensured St Aloysius’s goal tally was limited to just seven goals for the match.

Best on ground for St Aloysius was Michael Read, who was like the Rock of Gibraltar in defence.

Goal scorers: Louis Pribula (2 goals), Harvey Parmenter, Ben Huntley, Henry Cox, Henry Inwood, Will Pitts

For Waverley, Oliver Runda was best on ground.

Oliver got into space and created some memorable attacking plays along the wing.

Rupert McEvoy, Massimo Bucci, Alex Woods and Remy Compton-Lamb also flew the flag for Waverley College.

Jack Bush particularly deserves praise for his contested marking and his kicking skills out of pack situations.

Year 5/6 – Waverley 1 vs. Barker

This was anyone’s game at half-time with Barker commanding just a two goal margin at the main break.

The 3rd and 4th quarters, however, saw Barker obtain clear ascendancy on the scoreboard yet not so much around the ground where the competition was generally even.

Sam Jackson, best on ground for Barker College, helped his side to a strong victory with a dominant performance at centre half-back and in the ruck.

Ben Graham, who is new to the game, was rated 2nd best on ground. Sam and Ben were well supported by teammates such as Oliver Calligaro, Ralph Hudson and Jenson Raue.

It was pleasing from Waverley College’s perspective that players new to the game, such as Juay Kennedy, put in such strong performances.

Kennedy was rated best on ground by his coach for being “strong in the contests and for creating clever play.”

Cooper O’Donnell played through injury, Lachlan Muir was a real tryer, and Noah Mitchell, Matthew H-T & Phoenix Baker also did their best for Waverley College.

Year 7/8 Waverley vs Barker

Barker had opened up a 37 point lead at half time and then went on with it strongly in the second half to win comfortably.

Barker had at least six players who were new to the game, but they equipped themselves well to the standard set by their more experienced teammates.

Best on ground for Barker was Lachie Basten who was versatile, having stints in the ruck as well as rotating on the backline.

Daniel Alleyn was a standout player, kicking a Buddy Franklin-like tally of eight goals.

Daniel is relatively new to the game, yet he showed he is a natural playing the Australian code of football.

He took some towering marks at full-forward and was generally strong in marking situations.

Barker College was also well served by Ryan McCoy, Tom Meacham, Ben Nogajski and Oscar Bird.

Goals for Barker: Daniel Alleyn – 8 goals; Tom Meacham – 3 goals; Alec Braxton-Boal,  Ben Nogajski,  Lachie Basten, Darcy Carnahan, Ben Kinasch, Tom McPherson – 1 goal each.

Miles Glover was yet again a standout player for Waverley. His competitiveness in the packs and his team-first work ethic was admirable.

Miles also took an excellent high mark in the 2nd quarter that drew particular praise from those in the crowd.

Best on ground for Waverley was Nelson Burke who drew recognition from his coach for his “significant improvement”.

Waverley was also well served by Archie Crabb, Baxter Oleksyn, Stuart Ashcroft, Anthony Vassallo and Campbell Rawiller.
 
Goals for Waverley: Baxter Oleksyn – 1 goal; Stuart Aschcroft – 1 goal

Knox vs Trinity Grammar- Year 7/8

In arguably the best match of the season to date two teams who were well-drilled by their coaches and determined to obtain victory fought out a tough match until the final siren.

Neither team deserved to lose, but in the end Jack Brasher’s three goals for Knox in the last quarter made the difference.

Trinity led at three-quarter time and kicked the first goal of the last quarter, but Brasher was a match winner for Knox from that moment onwards. Knox won by just a one goal margin.

Knox’s best were Jack Brasher, Luke Parks, Mitchell Parks, James Roffe, Ryan DeVries and Jack Guttman.

Goal scorers for Knox: Jack Brasher – 5 goals; Edward Toole, Mitchell Parker, Luke Peachey, Luke Bray – 1 goal each.

Jonathan Hooper led the way for the Green and Whites of Trinity Grammar.

He kicked three goals, rucked well and drew praise from his coach for his “hard work and goal assists”.

The captain Bradley Uglow was a standout player for Trinity Grammar with his excellent clearance work from the centre square.

Trinity Grammar was also well served by Hugh Stonier, who demonstrated some excellent kicking skills.

Others to shine for Trinity included Sebastian Diaz, Finn Ritchie and Nathanial Davies.

Goal scorers for Trinity: Jonathan Hooper – 3 goals; Finn Ritchie – 2 goals; Ben Estell, Nathanial Davies and Charlie Griffith – 1 goal each

Knox (131) vs Trinity Grammar (18) – Year 9/10

Knox showed they were the team to beat in the Year 9/10 age group with a strong performance against a gallant Trinity outfit.

Knox opened up a commanding lead by half time of 61 points and then went on with the match.

Harrison Parker kicked the best goal of the match for Knox when he evaded three players, bounced the ball twice and slotted the ball through for full points in the last quarter.

Other players who made an impact for Knox were James Bennett, Joshua Tighe, Alex McConnell, Harrison White and Alex Selvarajah.

Goal scorers:  Joshua Tighe – 4 goals; Harrison Parker & Alex McConnell – 3 goals each; Alexander Doling-Cook, Alex Selvarajah – 2 goals each; James Bennett, Connor McFadden, Samuel Ritchens, Harrison White, Campbell Saddington and Jack Nicholls – 1 goal.

Dan Keogh, in just his second season of Australian football, showed he is a natural in the sport when he kicked a memorable goal after rucking out of the midfield, collecting the ball, running to centre half-forward and then slotting through a goal without an opposition player touching the ball.

When one considers that over a third of Trinity Grammar’s team are new to the game and that many of their Year 10 players were unavailable then it is clear that Trinity Grammar’s effort was gallant.

Jarryd Fernandes obtained best on ground status for Trinity largely as a result of his repeat efforts in contests.

Jed Keogh was 2nd best, followed by Brad Uglow, Ollie Davis, Blake Estell and Nathaniel Davies.

There were some Trinity Grammar players who backed up for this Year 9/10 match after playing in the Year 7/8 match.

They all deserved credit for putting in that extra effort in two matches.