Mark Lanyon - Team Manager.
After two weeks off the U12's were back in action against Waverley Blues at Heatherdale Reserve last Sunday. It was Luke Drew's 50th game and the team celebrated with him running through the banner in cold and foggy conditions to kick of the game.
It was a slow start with Patrick and Campbell getting plenty of the the ball around the packs in the first quarter. Ethan J was competing well in the ruck and took a good mark. Elijah was applying plenty of pressure with a couple of tackles but Waverley were on top and kicked 2 unanswered goals to quarter time.
Waverley continued to build pressure in the second quarter and our defense was working overtime. Dylan moved to full back and was getting his hand to a number of contests. Frash and Thomas were getting plenty of ball across half back but couldn't penetrate their defense and the ball frequently returned to their end of the ground. We went to half time 33 points in arrears.
The comfort of the changerooms at half time must have changed the mindset of the team and it was completely different game in the third quarter. Macsen started to get the ball and linked up well with Patrick. Gabriel moved into the ruck and Campbell, Patrick, and Thomas started winning contested ball. Jordy was tackling and getting plenty of possessions around the wing and Ethan finally took advantage of some good linked up play to register our first goal of the game. Soon after we had the ball back down in attack and Ethan found Austin for another shot at goal. Unfortunately it missed but we had won the quarter and trimmed the margin back to 26 points at 3/4 time.
Our pressure continued to lift in the last quarter as we worked ourselves back into the game. A great piece of play that started with Thomas kicking to Zac who linked up with Cameron and found Luke deep forward for a shot at goal was a highlight. Ben was competing well up forward and had a few opportunities but it was Cameron who got our second goal (and his first for the year) at the 7 minute mark. A further 3 shots at goal trimmed the margin to 19 points but despite winning the half we were too far behind.
We know our best footy is capable of competing with any side in our division but we continue to seek out consistency across 4 quarters. A chance for redemption awaits the team next week against Wantirna South!