RAMS U19s Match Report 24 May 2014 vs Western Suburbs at Picken Oval
Saturday’s game against Western Suburbs was the battle for top spot on the ladder
and after some impressive performances of late the Rams went into this game full
of confidence. With Wests having jumped to a 5 goal lead early on in our previous
encounter we knew we were going to have to come out hard right from the first bounce.
To the boy’s credit they did just that. Working extremely hard to go into the quarter
time break trailing by just 7 points in a scrappy quarter that saw both sides fail to take
full advantage of their opportunities.
The second quarter was dominated by Wests who came out more committed and
running harder to set up scoring opportunities to lead by 25 points at the half time
break. The third quarter was a much closer contest with the young Rams taking up
the challenge however West’s still managed to extend their lead slightly going into
the final break 28 points in front. The final quarter was dominated by the Rams
who rallied to provide some hope of an improbable victory, with most of the play
in their forward half. However failure to convert numerous opportunities into goals
saw those hopes fade with West’s running out well deserved victors by 19 points.
The upside to the loss is that we have gained ground on Western Suburbs since our
previous encounter, managing 17 scoring shots to their 16. We know that failure to
play consistently across four quarters, (just that second quarter lapse) and not
capitalizing on our scoring opportunities is what cost us. The U19 Rams will be
looking forward to the rematch later in the season with even greater confidence now
knowing what they need to do to win!
Better Players on the day were Connor Owen-Auburn who worked relentlessly through
the midfield and up forward finishing with a stack of possessions and 2 goals.
Ben Skinner was great at full back and provided plenty of rebound before moving
onto the ball as a ruck-rover where he provided much needed drive and also
sneaking forward to kick a goal. Patrick Pope played a strong game spending time
forward, back and through the midfield gathering plenty of possessions marking
well and finishing with a goal.
Jayden Stevens on debut for the club showed his class through the midfield setting
up a number of scoring opportunities through aggressive play and quality disposal
skills. Ethan Claxton was another who worked tirelessly providing a strong
presence around the ground and Chris Nolan (fist game back from injury) was
a solid contributor off half back and through the midfield. Jacob Field battled
hard on the wing and made a major difference when moved into the centre square.
Nat Brew had a great last quarter contributing well to our final quarter resurgence.
Jeremy Rix despite spending some time off with a minor injury worked hard in
the ruck and novice ruckman Ethan King showed great improvement at the centre
bounces.
Training this week will be on Thursday night only, 6:30 – 8pm before the Rams
travel to Macquarie University on Saturday to take on the Warriors in what is
sure to be another hard fought encounter. The game starts at 1030am with players
needing to arrive by 9:30am.
After this weeks game on 31 May the U19’s will have the Queen’s Birthday long
weekend break followed by a bye. This means our next game after the Macquarie
game will not be until 21 June when we will take on Moorebank at Greygums Oval.
Goal Kickers: C. Owen-Auburn 2, P. Pope , B. Skinner , Z. Pianta
Best Players: C. Owen-Auburn, P. Pope, B. Skinner, J. Stevens, E. Claxton, C. Nolan
Last Modified on 16/09/2014 21:18