Hale School v Wesley College
Wesley College0.2 - 1.3 - 2.3 - 4.5 (29)
Hale School
2.3 - 3.6 - 6.7 - 7.8 (50)
Goal Scorers: Hilton Cartwright 2, Ken Barnett 1, Jordan Buller 1
Best Players: Mitch Withers, Lewis Upton, Ben Myers, Sean Romaro, Tim Siegert
Summary
The conditions were perfect for football i.e. no wind, sun was shining and the oval looked immaculate. The boys dominated the first ten minutes of the game but struggled to get any goals on the board. Sean Romaro was providing a target at half forward and Hilton Cartwright was competing hard at full forward. The backline led by Mitch Withers, Tim Siegert and Ben Myers was holding up well but Hale had taken control of the second half of the quarter and was pumping the ball forward regularly. Eventually Hale broke through and kicked a couple of goals.
The second quarter became a real slog with neither side prepared to give an inch. Lewis Upton after a quiet start to the game started to get involved and was providing some much needed drive from his wing. Jarrad Irons through hard tackling and some great second and third efforts was keeping the team competitive through the centre of the ground. Hilton Cartwright took a good mark running the same way as the ball and then kicked a clever goal. Kane Gatty was competing well in the ruck and was taking a few strong marks around the ground. The backline were obviously still doing their job, working hard to restrict Hale to a solitary goal for the quarter.
The third quarter started with a Hale goal within the first ten seconds and the rest of the quarter followed a similar pattern with the boys on the back foot just struggling to hang in. Jarrad Irons continued his hard play and was continually at the bottom of packs winning the hard ball. Travis Talbot in the last line of defence was applying a lot of pressure and Tim Siegert looked composed across half back taking a clever mark. A highlight of the quarter was a superb second effort by Tom Ripper. He had his shot for goal smothered, went back after the smothered ball, won possession then shot out a quick handball to Hilton Cartwright who snapped a great goal.
At three quarter time the boys were confident they could finish the game strongly and that’s how they played the final term. Lewis Upton maintained his good form and continually drove the ball forward keeping the Hale backs under pressure. Chris McKenzie at centre half forward was really working hard and creating opportunities. One beneficiary of this was Ken Barnett who kicked a clever snap goal after a pass from Chris McKenzie. Jordan Buller who had played consistently all game was rewarded with a goal when he took advantage of a fifty metre penalty to slot one through. Kane Gatty continued his strong marking and Jarrad Irons executed a perfect smother.
In summary the boys tried hard all day and I thought the defence was outstanding keeping Hale to only seven goals when you consider Hale had control of the ball for the majority of the game. At the other end of the ground we just didn’t kick enough goals to put Hale under any pressure.
I would like to give a special thanks to Chris McKenzie’s mum “Sue” who did an excellent job as goal umpire. Also Jack Richards was a great assistant on the day taking on the role of runner, water boy and medical officer.
