Under 18s Match Report

Round 15 U18 Match Report

West Adelaide 14.7 (91) def. Central District 5.8 (38)

Round 15 saw us play Central District in our final home match of the season. The past month had seen us play some impressive football and the boys were keen to ensure we continued this before the split round. Central, despite having struggled in recent weeks, had beaten us back in round 3 so we needed to ensure we were switched on for a challenge. Earlier in the day North were beaten by Norwood which meant a win for us would move us a game and percentage clear in second place.

Joel Groom, Mac Nield and Saul Morelli were selected for the reserves – making it 7 players in total playing either reserves or league football from our group. This allowed 3 under-16 players to make their under-18 debut which were Charlie Pridham, Hugh Desira and Cade Kennedy. Noah Hannagan also returned from injury that had seen him miss the last 10 matches.

Overall, only 13 players from the previous week were in our side again – a combination of college football, league/reserves football and a couple that were unavailable due to uni exams. This was also Jason Westley’s 50^th game of underage football for the club – an enormous effort particularly given the fact he had been travelling from Berri to train and play all of last year.

Our group started well and kicked two early goals courtesy of Jacob Jolly and Noah Hannagan. From that point on the first quarter was quite close and we took an 8-point lead into quarter time. In the second quarter we were able to pile on 5 goals to 1 which included another 3 to Noah. Our lead at half-time was 30 points but we felt we had plenty of improvement left in us still.

In the second half we gradually extended our lead and looked solid across the ground, kicking 6 goals to 2 and finishing with a 53-point win. Again, what was most pleasing was the ability of our group to continue playing our game style despite many changes to the team from the previous week. Every one that comes in is playing their role and contributing.

Jason Westley was excellent leading a relatively inexperienced midfield and Aryan Sareen set us up well from defence. Jason finished with 32 disposals, 13 clearances and 2 goals whilst Aryan finished with 33 possessions, 9 marks and 9 rebound 50’s. Noah Hannagan kicked 5 goals in his return game and Beau Nunan chipped in with another 3 – taking his tally to 42 goals for the season. Bailey Boughen slotted in nicely to the midfield after playing mostly forward until now, and Charlie Pridham showed great signs in his first game at this level (as did all the U16 guys who played). Harri Bailye was again impressive as our link forward taking 10 marks.

This weekend we don’t have a game due to the split round. The following Saturday (11^th) we play the Eagles at Woodville in a top of the table clash. Our group are looking forward to the challenge of playing the ladder leaders and will be working hard during the week to ensure we continue to improve. The game is at 1pm and we would love to see lots of West support there.

Best: Jason Westley, Aryan Sareen, Harri Bailye, Noah Hannagan, Bailey Boughen, Charlie Pridham

Goals: Noah Hannagan (5), Beau Nunan (3), Jason Westley (2), Luke Heitmann, Declan Henty-Smith, Jacob Jolly, Charlie Pridham (1)

Paul Streatfield

Talent & Development Manager / U18 Coach