Mark Lanyon - Team Manager.
A place in the finals was up for grabs as the U12's took on Norwood at Heatherdale Reserve last Sunday. After a close match in round 6 which saw Norwood take the points the team was focused to gain a qualification spot.
After celebrating Ethan A's 50th game with a banner run through the first quarter was a tight affair with both teams competing strongly for the ball. Campbell and Shannon were getting plenty of run on the ball and off half back. Cadyn got some early touches and Cameron was doing some good work around the packs. After some good play across half back by Thomas, Campbell kicked into our forward line and Nathan opened the scoring with our first goal of the game. Frash started to work himself into the game late in the quarter with a strong mark. Ben was showing some good form and linked up with Thomas and Patrick to repel several attacks. Norwood hit back late in the quarter though with a goal to go to quarter time with a 1 point lead.
The second quarter started with Frash again winning some good possessions and partnered with Elijah formed a swarm of pressure on the opposition. The Jets started to get some good chains of play together and Patrick soon had the ball to Thomas who found Ethan. He went back to slot our 2nd goal of the game to put us 5 points up. Jordy continued the pressure on Norwood with some strong tackling and Shannon was getting plenty of run out of defense. A great smother by Thomas was a highlight of the quarter but again we gave away a late goal to go to the main break 2 points behind.
The changerooms at half time had a positive spirit by the team and we were confident that we could continue to press. The 3rd quarter started with a clearance from the center from Patrick who found Luke with a mark. He went back and slotted our 3rd goal of the match to regain the lead. Shannon and Nathan then linked up well to present further scoring opportunities. Ben was starting to get more of the ball and producing some of his cleanest possessions of the season. Some strong marks from Frash and Nathan shut down the Norwood forward line and quickly had the ball back into our forward link. Our pressure rating was going through the roof with strong tackles from Ethan and Shannon. Patrick and Dylan linked up with Ben to present another scoring opportunity but we were rewarded with only 3 further points for the quarter to go 6 points clear at 3 quarter time.
Gabriel went into the ruck in the last quarter and soon started to influence. Harry and Elijah were at the bottom of most packs as we continued to put pressure on. Ben was playing a blinder and showing great skills linking up with Thomas and Patrick. Soon Austin and Ethan had it down to Zac who scored our 4th goal of the game to put us 2 goals up with 5 minutes to play. The remainder of the game was largely spent in our forward line with Campbell and Harry getting some good possessions. Thomas was throwing himself at the ball but the tackle of the day went to Jordy as she spectacularly took down a Norwood player in the closing minutes to win a free.
The siren went with the Jets recording a 14 point victory and jumping into 5th spot on the ladder. The team sang the song with pride after the game and set themselves on repeating the effort next week against Rowville. With such an even performance across the team we are confident it won't be the last song of the year!
