Under 16 Round 2 Coaches Report

West Adelaide 17.7 (109) Def South Adelaide 8.2 (50)

After coming off a strong win against the Glenelg in the first round, the U16’s faced South Adelaide at the big open spaces of Noarlunga Oval. South Adelaide convincingly beat Sturt in the 1st round and we expected a strong contest. We aimed to improve our conversion in front of goal this week and continue to bring high intensity, strong tackling and winning contested ball. We also aim to continue our high-speed ball movement whenever we can.

We made two changes for the round bringing in Charlton Manning and Peter Paech for their first run.

The game began at a very fast pace and both sides were strong around the contest.  We hit the scoreboard but South settled and the quarter was evenly shared with 3 goals each.

The 2^nd quarter saw us turn up the heat and start to dominate play. This week saw us convert our opportunities kicking 6.0 to 2.0 and extending our lead to over 4 goals at half time.

Our ball use continued to be fast and take risk resulting in an exciting game style that enabled us to score quickly.

Luke Young was providing a strong target forward, Tyrell Sgroi very dangerous around goals and with Connor Blackwell and Mitch Hahn working hard around stoppages and giving us scoring opportunities up forward we were in a good position for the second half.

Our defense with Jackson Roberts, Jack McArdle, David Midwinter, Sam Matters, Tyson Coe and Jesse Thackeray were holding well and continued to rebound with speed.

The 3^rd quarter again saw us apply strong tackling pressure and we continued to be efficient in front of goals kicking 4.2 to South 2.0.  We asked the boys to run the game out strongly not giving an inch and they finished the game well in the last quarter, kicking a further 4.4 to South 1.2 in an impressive display for 4 quarters.

Overall an excellent win with everyone playing their role, some exciting fast ball movement and skilled football and an even spread of ball getters. Special mention to Mitch Hahn’s 13 tackles and 3 goals, Connor Blackwell’s all-round game performance and Luke Young 22 possessions, 8 marks and 4 goals.

I also want to mention how proud I was to have one of the boys suggest the team wear black arm bands out of respect for the passing of one of the players Grandfather’s as well as acknowledging those lives lost in the tragic event in Christchurch during the week.

Wonderful to see young players caring so much about each other and the world they live in.

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Best players: Mitch Hahn, Connor Blackwell, Luke Young, Sam Matters, Cade Kennedy, Tyrell Sgroi

Goal Kickers: Sgroi 4, Young 4, Hahn 3, Desira 2, Blackwell, Kennedy, Oueiss, Woods

Article: Michael Wakim, U16 Head Coach

Photos: Peter Argent https://www.facebook.com/oursportinglifeSA/