Bat Chat
MATCH REPORT 4th Division
R 1 UTS v Manly 4/4/09
Pittwater Res
Round One at last. After a great pre season we finally got down to the business.
Unfortunately because of the rain over the last week and the mad Sydney Councils, all four games were moved to Pittwater; meaning a very early morning for the 3rds as they had the early game.
We had 17 new players making their debuts for the club in the 4th. They had been rewarded for their efforts during the pre-season.
The boys started with great enthusiasm but Manly were using the ball a little better then we were, with handballs not hitting targets and loads of pressure on our back line. Manly lead by 5 points by the end of the first Quarter, but had 5 more shots on goal and could have put a big break on us but for our back six lead by Dan Ardu and Danny Caruana at full back.
Our back six were putting a lot of pressure on the ball carrier and made sure they did not get an easy kick. Panda (Ben Payne) worked hard out of the back pocket and I have been impressed with his improvement.
Dean Wiles was great on the HBF putting lots of physical pressure on his man. I think the Rugby boys love this man on man stuff. Brendan Limbrey ran hard in straight lines hitting the packs hard and making sure that no Manly player walked away without a bruise.
Jimmy Arkinson, at CHB, was solid all day and had a spell up forward in the second quarter in which he did very well. Itâs great to have a tall that can be used at both ends.
Kicking against the wind in the second quarter, we set ourselves for a hard fought 20 minutes. Our on ballers started to play well, using their run, quick play on and good hands taking it right up to Manly.
Scott Donaldson was a stand out with great attack on the ball and the opposition. BOG. John Richie and Mark Ayers worked hard in the ruck using their big frames to good effect. Jon Bocking and Tim Conly who have both impressed during pre season, again set the standard with their work rate in and around the ball. The hard running Soccer player, Paul Tucker, showed he has a good feel for this game and will only get better.
Manly kicked 2-2 to our 1-2 but I was happy with how we had played; getting much more ball and using it a lot better. George Harder was everywhere. Filling the hole down back which he does so well and winning ball across half forward. Paul Benson who had his head taken off in the first quarter got some good quality ball on the wing so I was quite up beat at half time.
The wind changed to be more across the ground in the third quarter which made it a tough day for the forwards. Andrew Browne playing at CHF gave us a good target and we managed to put another 2 goals on the board. Josh Broad in the forward pocket was doing all that I had asked of him and was getting the rewards. Paul Li, who was for me, second BOG, did some great stuff out of the forward pocket. On one particular occasion, after stepping around four players he was about to straighten up for goal and was unfortunately pinged for running too far (a shocker of a decision) which in my humble opinion would have been the play of the day in any grade.
A the end of the quarter we were 15 points down having not won a quarter but here were some good signs as we had started to dominate position and territory in the last half of the third quarter.
We changed a few things and went in to the fourth quarter with high hopes.
Paul Chalita, who had been great for us in the middle all day and looks like he will make a very good player, made his presence felt in more ways then one, came off with a cork and we went with Dean Wiles to take on their best player in the centre.
Dean helped to turn the game. He and Henning Swabey were just hard at it and would not say die. Henning who seemed to have two opponents every time he went near the ball just would not lie down and made second, third and fourth efforts.
Our American recruit, Jason Booth, went into the ruck and totally dominated. He has a fantastic leap and gave us first use of the ball. With a little more game time on the ball he could be a top find for us.
Mark Ayres went to CHF and got in front to take some good marks coming from our on ballers who had got on top. Craig Bartlett, another of our international players from England, became a bit of a wild card for us. Sent forward as a leading decoy, he came into his own and took the ball on the run to kick the first of his two goals for the quarter which was just great to see. Well done. What at long way he has come.
Paul Kalogerenis, who had been doing a job for us at full forward, and at CHB for a quarter, also came into the game in a big way, readily getting on top.
Manly, who started to lose their structure 5mins into the quarter, pushed men back behind the ball as we got on top, trying to save their lead rather than score. Playing to our strengths, our half backs and on ballers just kept applying pressure on Manlyâs defence by supplying quality ball to our forwards. Kalo, the big man, making the most of it, which we all knew he could.
With six minutes to play we had kicked 3 goals to 1 to put us one point down. Kalo lead well, and then tried to turn his player who was caught out of position and took Kalo around the neck, giving him a free and then a 50 to gift him his third goal for the quarter. This put us five points up.
The voice was up; the team was working for each other; putting on blocks, shepherds and tackles. We knew we were going to win. We were all over them.
Then one of our guys gave away a silly 50m penalty which brought the Manly player to about 25m out from gaol. We will not menton the playerâs name here as he felt like crawling into a hole at the time and it will be something that he will never forgets. There is no need to rub it in.
Leading by 5 points, two minutes on the clock, Manly with the ball, a set shot 25m out on a slight angle. Things did not look good but the player with the ball had been murdering it all day so I was quietly confident that he would miss. So it proved. We had got out of jail by four points. A great quarter by all.
What great win for the guys! One word- âProudâ.
They did themselves and the Bats proud.
Brett Wylie 4th Div Coach
Goals; Kalogerenis 3, Bartlett 2, Browne 2 Broad 1, Li 1
Best; Donaldson, Li, Caruana, Wiles, Kalogerenis, Ayers
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Manly 2-0 - 12 3-2 - 20 5-5 - 35 9-7 - 61
UTS 2-5 - 17 4-7 - 31 7-8 - 50 8-9 - 57