Newtown U 11s

Round 5 match report

Easts Blue 9.6.60  def Newtown 8.4.52

Newtown goals: Johnny 7, Lawrence 1

Newtown best: Johnny, Lawrence, George, Vijay, Callum, MacKenzie, Zane

After a difficult round 4 clash with Maroubra, the U11s had the toughest challenge in the competition taking on the undefeated Easts at Trumper Park. In a great rebounding effort, Newtown led the game for all but the last couple of minutes when Easts finally managed to edge ahead. Although Easts won, this was Newtown’s best performance of the season and a real confident boost for the team.

From the opening bounce, it was obvious that Newtown had come to play. With Lawrence dominating in the ruck, Newtown’s midfielders were getting good supply and putting early pressure on the Easts defence. George, Zane and Johnny were all in the action early and making it hard for Easts to get their running game going. Newtown were getting to the ball first and this soon resulted in a free kick to Lawrence, whose pass to Johnny set up Newtown’s first goal. Easts responded with a number of forward thrusts but great defensive efforts from Gus, Vijay, Louis and MacKenzie kept them at bay. Eventually, Easts got their first goal but within a minute, Vijay and Kyle combined to get the ball to Johnny who kicked his second. Great second efforts from Zane, David and Riley helped Johnny get his third a couple of minutes later.

Easts narrowed the gap with two quick goals in the opening minutes of the second quarter. However, Newtown heads didn’t drop. The rest of the quarter was a very tight contest with a lot of tackling and hard chasing for the ball. Lawrence broke the impasse with a clever play-on goal from centre half forward. Easts got one back almost immediately but then David and Raidyn got the ball to Johnny who scored his fourth. Some goal saving second efforts by Vijay in the last line of defence made sure Newtown ended the half with their noses in front.

The second half opened with a quick behind to Easts. Newtown immediately got the ball forward, where a ball up in the pocket saw Zac tap the ball to Johnny who scored goal number 5. Easts then scored another goal as the game started to open up. A series of end-to-end plays and some great forward pressure by Newtown ended with Johnny scoring number 6. But again Easts replied to keep the pressure on.

The final term was the most exciting of the game. Easts snapped a goal early and looked like they might run away with it. But Callum and MacKenzie steadied the ship with some purposeful tackling before Kyle marked strongly on a lead at centre half forward and passed off to Johnny for number 7. The ball stayed in Newtown’s forward line for much of the remainder of the quarter but the skilful Easts managed to break out twice against the run of play to score the goals that put them in front. With Newtown’s enthusiastic runner also inadvertently getting into the action, the game ended with another Easts shot at goal. While it was disappointing to lose, there were pats on the back all round for a great team effort by Newtown and along with congratulations to Easts there was a message: We’ll be back!

Hawkeye

U11 match report

1 May 2010

Round 3: Newtown Swans 11.3.69 defeated Glebe Greyhounds 2.0.12

Goals: Johnnie 4, George 2, Lawrence 2, Maddie 1, Max 1, Raidyn 1

Best: Vijay, George, Callum, Johnnie, Lawrence, MacKenzie, Louis.

For the second week running, the U11s have hit the road and come home with a solid win. This was not as one-sided as the score-line suggests. It was a game where every possession had to be earned and where teamwork was the only reason the ball went forward. Most pleasing of all was that this week, we capitalised on our opportunities. Last week saw 17 behinds – this week there were 3.

Newtown started strongly and kept the ball in their forward line for much of the first quarter. Lawrence imposed himself in the ruck and George was almost unstoppable out of the middle. Both set up numerous forward thrusts and kicked the first two goals. Callunn and Kyle both took strong early grabs and an excellent crumbing effort by George produced his second goal. Glebe weathered the early storm and then launched a counter-attack. In a desperate five minutes, Louis pulled off two goal saving tackles, Callum always seemed to be between the ground and the ball, and Vijay showed some silky skills off half back. Maddie, Matt and Max were hard at the ball and contributed to the relentless forward pressure.

In the second quarter, Johnnie came onto the ground and made an immediate impact with his pace and kicking skills. Glebe again pushed forward but a great defensive effort from Vijay set up a chain of passes that eventually resulted in an excellent goal by Max. Johnnie followed up with his first for the day before Glebe’s efforts were finally rewarded with their first. Lawrence reapplied the pressure with his second but Glebe were still looking dangerous. Enter Matty, who had gone off earlier in the quarter after a lunging tackle. Within seconds, he grabbed the ball on the wing and shot a bullet-like pass to Raidyn, who took a strong mark and scored his first goal for the club – a great effort!

Half time provided the opportunity for some deep breaths, a pep talk from the coach about not letting the game slip and a few positional changes. Riley started the third quarter in the ruck and immediately came into the game with some excellent tap-work. Within a couple of minutes, a long pass from Louis set up Johnnie for his first of three for the quarter. The arrival of the obligatory shower meant the ball was getting greasy and the game was bogging down into a very tight tussle. MacKenzie’s rugby skills were proving really useful in defence, while Callum, Zane and David tackled, chased and won quality possession. Glebe scored their second goal before Maddie marked strongly, scooted round the mark and landed what was close to goal of the day.

The game remained a tough slog throughout the last quarter. Both defences had plenty of work and there was little change on the scoreboard. Despite this, the quarter produced some of the best football of the game as both sides tried hard to look for team-mates and keep the ball moving.  This U11 team is really starting to gel. With a busy bench, every Newtown player had made a great contribution by the time final siren sounded.  

Hawkeye