U18 Round 11 Match Report

The Under 18s went down in a close contest to North Adelaide on Saturday losing by 4 points. We started well kicking 3 goals before North hit back with a couple of late goals themselves and we went to quarter time with a six point lead.  It was a pretty even second quarter with us not quite taking advantage of some good forward work and kicking 2 goals 4 points to have a nine point lead at half time.  The Roosters stepped it up a notch in the third quarter and kicked 5 goals to our one to take a handy 14 point break into the last quarter and when they kicked the first goal of the quarter after 3 minutes the 20 point margin was going to be tough to overcome.

The players worked really hard and increased the pressure and we started winning the ball and closed to within 1 point only for North to kick 2 quick ones to again take control of the match, but to the players credit, they weren’t done with and we kicked 2 late goals to give ourselves a chance to win, with a centre bounce occurring with just 30 seconds on the clock. Unfortunately it was not to be as North gained the clearance to close out the game and they were worthy winners.

Brock Thompson stood firm in our defence all game playing on a much taller opponent and did well, Zac Phillips gave the midfield some great service in ruck and kicked 2 goals up forward, Harry Dawkins and Jase Burgoyne worked hard in the midfield and Henry Smith and Jack Wheare (3 goals) presented well in the forward line with Henry helping out in ruck and around the ground as well.

Importantly this week was also the week that Dylan Errington played his first game of under 18 footy.  Dylan has not played footy for 3 years due to two knee reconstructions.  Whilst we were disappointed to lose, perspective is important and it was great to see him out there playing and doing his bit for the team.

This week we take on the Tigers at ACH Group Stadium from 11.30am in an important game for our finals chances.

Shane Reardon
Coach Under 18s