2011 VFL Seniors
Williamstown 6.3 11.5 17.9 21.13 (139)
Sandringham 2.0 8.5 9.7 16.8 (104)
GOALS:
Williamstown: Goodes 5 Panos 4 Barlow 3 Lake 2 Reid 2 Davies Dahlhaus Tutt Cordy Johnson
Sandringham: Boland 5 Lourey 2 Archer 2 Polo Magner Stanley Curren Ledger Heyne Sharp
BEST:
Williamstown: Goodes Dahlhaus Hooper Djerrkura Jolley Cordy
Sandringham: Heyne Magner Andreoli Boland Archer Lynch
Match Report - By Serge D'Angelo
When you give any side a 5 goal start is in this competition you are courting disaster, let alone that team being one the ladder leaders who boasted some very highly credentialed footballers such as Brian Lake, Mitch Hahn and Ryan Hargreave. However, this is exactly what occurred in the first 15 minutes and from that point we made football life rather difficult as we had very few opportunities in terms of forward 50 entries. We fought very hard to stay with the opposition and kicked a couple of late goals leaving us with a 27 points deficit.
Our second quarter was productive as we regained our composure through the dominance of James Magner, Dean Polo and Chris Irving around the stoppages. Archer and Stanley began to give us first use of the ball consequently we managed to claw our way back into the game. Late in the second quarter we were only a few points adrift of the Seagulls as the younger Zebras in Andreoli, Curren and Ledger pounced on the loose ball up forward and set up quite a few goals.
Archer , Lourey and Matt Boland (who ended the game with 5 goals on debut) received better service as the ball penetrated the forward 50 with greater regularity. The pressure applied through our increased work rate allowed the momentum to in our direction shift as the entire Zebra defensive structures arrested Williamstowns ball movement as Heyne, Lynch , Simpkin and Walsh began to influence the play in this term. The untimely goals from Willy late in this quarter undid 23 minutes of very good team football by Sandringham. Being only 3 goals down at the long break we had every right to think that this was now an opportunity to make a real impact and win. However, injuries to Jackson Ferguson and Captain David Gallagher made the task more difficult as Williamstown took the game under it’s wing and simply ran the ball quickly into an open forward line and put on 6 goals to 1 in the third term.
The players were challenged by coach Brett Lovett to win the final quarter and the young Zebras responded well. Matt Boland’s 4 goal last term was excellent as was Andreoli’s second half. Jimmy Magner was once again a powerhouse and Nick Heyne was prominent all day Andrew Fleming and Chris Waller who also were playing their first games for the year showed plenty of promise as they displayed plenty of courage and determination around the contests.
The 35 points defeat was not one that we could be happy with, however we did fight out the game and there were a number of positives for us to work on as we continue to build on our strengths and be mindful that we need to work diligently on our weaknesses.
2011 VFL Reserves
Williamstown 4.3 10.9 20.16 25.21 (171)
Sandringham 5.1 5.2 7.3 7.5 (47)
GOALS:
Williamstown: Knight 6 Hill 5 Smith 2 McHarg 2 Woods 2 Walters 2 Hoghton Frost Cravino Purton-Smith Kefford Ryan
Sandringham: Andrews 2 McMahon 2 Jones Stapleton Meehan
BEST:
Williamstown: Cravino Woods Carr Knight McCallum McHarg
Sandringham: Andrews Cathcart Smith-Cameron StapletonJones Mavric
Match Report - By Mick Ablett
After a very impressive first quarter where the instructions to play 1 vs 1, accountable, contested football were carried out brilliantly, things very quickly turned sour. Williamstown were on the back foot throughout the first quarter unable to find an answer to our constant pressure and ability to win the contested ball, however it is common knowledge that it takes a lot more than 30 minutes of football to get the desired result. We were simply non-competitive and nowhere near aggressive enough after quarter time against a quality side that showed just what is required to play quality football at this level. Maddison Andrews continues to display a work ethic and level of courage that you can only hope spreads like wildfire through your team as a coach. He amassed 40 possessions, 17 of those contested, 12 Handball Receives and 2 goals, it was nothing short of leadership through actions at its best! He can without doubt hold his head high. Robbie Cathcart is another individual who can be proud of his own performance on Saturday, along with his mate Mads, Robbie had 30 possessions, 13 contested, 9 Handball Receives and 4 Tackles showing why he is so highly regarded around the club not only as a footballer but as a person of character. Robbie continually put his head over the footy and tried everything in his power to get his team mates to follow however it wasn’t to be. He also showed a work ethic and maturity in a crisis well beyond his years, and he also can be proud of himself in only his 2nd game back from injury. Matt Stapleton, Kiefer Smith-Cameron, Dylan Jones & Tim Mavric showed some resistance throughout the day.
We can only put that one behind us and apologise to all involved in this proud football club for the embarrassment we caused over the past weekend. Now is as bigger test as we could face as a team, and having it come so early in the season may not be such a bad thing. From my point of view as a coach there is nothing we can do about what has happened, however the way we apply ourselves throughout the week at training and bounce back this coming Saturday at Box Hill will go a long way to answering some very important questions, and I have no doubt we will answer in the best way possible, through actions
Last Modified on 09/05/2011 11:10