Ando’s Match Report – Round 9 vs Glenelg

What a day it was for the footy club on Saturday! Two thrilling games that went down to the wire, starting with the reserve boys being beaten with 5 seconds to go.

The first quarter saw us really struggle to get into the game; mostly our ability to adjust to the weather conditions and learn from our mistakes, and then, giving the ball back to Glenelg several times through poor skill execution or bad decision making. We addressed some issues at quarter time and played a more direct game, using the ball well by foot to see us boot 5 goals heading into the half time break with a 1-point lead.

Playing against the reigning premiers on their home deck, the second half was always going to be a slog. We knew we would have to be prepared to fight like hell to find a way to win. With some up and down moments over the last two quarters, [at one stage being down by 25 points halfway through the last quarter] the boys found a way to rally and hit the front with 5 minutes to go.

Unfortunately, we got piped at the line which was hard for the boys as they showed some extremely good character and fight for the whole of the day. They have consistently demonstrated this throughout the Season.

We spoke after the game about our first half of the season and although disappointed with Saturday’s game, if we looked at the first half of the year and said we would be 7-2, with multiple boys playing senior footy that have been products of the reserve system over the past 18 months you’d take it.

We will review the game early in the week and give the boys some time to recover and prepare for the second half of the year. I believe that we will see exciting things coming out of the group.

Best: Michael Laudato, Matthew McKenzie, Cade Kennedy, Charlie Allan, Michael Mattingly

Goals: Dylan McCormick, Nick Steele, Luke Young (2), Riley Corbett, Clayton Gay, Michael Laudato, Max Marslen

Ryan Anderson

Reserves Coach