League Match Report – Round 6

The senior men’s side took on last year’s Premiers, Glenelg FC at Stratarama Stadium on Saturday afternoon. It was a challenge we were looking forward to, given the quality and experience in their side.

We started the game well, we had the first 3 F50 entries but were unable to truly threaten Glenelg’s defence, kicking the ball shallow and wide to our forwards. Our inability to make the most of those opportunities proved costly as Glenelg countered and kicked the opening goal of the contest from their first F50 entry. Even with a favorable breeze, we were reluctant to take territory when the opportunity presented going at a kick-to-handball ratio of 1-to-1, as opposed to Glenelg’s 2-to-1. We can take a lot out of how Glenelg moved the ball offensively, trusting their forwards to win 1v1 contests and looking to corridor first.

The second quarter we were unable to gain any sort of control of the ball, again over-using the ball by hand and inviting Glenelg’s pressure which was at a high level. Although we still had chances to go forward and score, it was our fundamentals in the first half that weren’t at the level required to consistently compete against one of the better teams in the competition.

Our focus in the second half was to equalize the contest, take better care of the ball and take territory when it presented. We were able to establish momentum through a brilliant 10-minute period by our young-gun Kobe Ryan who kicked 3.1 during this burst. Again, we had opportunities to kick more of a score if we took better care of the football in our front-half. We kicked the ball out of bounds five times inside our F50 during this third term and missed a couple of good chances in front of goal.

The final term was exciting as both teams had chances to win the game. We got within 6-points at one stage but were unable to put any real pressure on Glenelg from a scoreboard perspective. We ultimately fell to a margin of 27-points.

To our players credit, they never give up. They are trying. They care. They are working hard. They are always taking on feedback and wanting to become better and this will hold us in good stead moving forward.

We have two weeks now to prepare for North Adelaide at home on the 25^th of May, we hope to see all of our loyal supporters there.

Goals: K. Ryan (3), D. McCormick, L. Redfern, N. Stevens (1)

Best: S. Frost, K. Ryan, J. Stevens

League Head Coach – Adam Hartlett