Men Rd 8 – UHS-VU | Women Rd 5 – Bulleen-Templestowe

WOMEN | RESERVES | SENIORS

Women

Goal Kickers: A. Payne, N. McMahon, K. Bulluss
Best Players: M. Spillane, S. Giles, N. McMahon, M. Yeaman, E. Hall, K. Johnson

It was a cold start against Bulleen Templestowe down at Ted Ajani reserve and we were hoping to put together a back to back win.

The girls went out hard in the first quarter and managed to snatch the lead with an early goal. It was a bit of a scrappy start with the dew on the ground and the ball being more slippery than we were used to but a strong back line managed to keep the opponent scoreless for the whole quarter.

Our tenacity was unmatched and we kept a steady lead over the next 2 quarters with one goal a piece, and a few very near misses, going into the final quarter with a strong 14 point lead.

A string of unlucky calls brought the game to within a point with minutes to go, but the girls fought hard and maintained the pace to come out on top.

We learnt a lot in this game about keeping our heads when the umpiring calls are consistently going against us and have taken plenty away from the match in that regard. It is a pleasure to see how much each and every girl has improved from game to game and great to see that we are getting some rewards on the scoreboard for our hard efforts.

Special mention goes to Jess who stepped in to help coach this week and to Mary who had a ripper game and fought 100% all the way through.

Let’s keep up the pace and aim for the trifecta this weekend against Brunswick – Go Cobbies!”

Reserves

Goal Kickers: R. Taylor, A. Stals
Best Players: N. Walden, T. Murphy, R. Odenthal, R. Hawke, D. Walden, M. Careri

Round eight against UHS-VU  at the Snake Pit, today was going to be a tough ask against the top side with a bunch of players who hadn’t played together before and who also didn’t know the structures and  game plan, so  we were all just hoping for a 100% effort from all.

The first quarter we started off with a couple of forward 50 entries which we didn’t capitalise on. Uhs- Vu moved the ball well and won the stoppages 10-4 in the quarter and scored goals at will. Our work rate was well below the required level, but our attacked on the ball was quite good. Our work rate let us down along with our ability to run to space to create our own opportunities, also our manning up was questionable. Cobra’s first goal come through good play with Corey one of the fill-ins scoring for a long way out to give us some joy. We trailed by a massive 107 points at half time.

3^rd quarter Uhs –Vu outclassed us and moved the ball through the corridor and scored 7 goals to our zero. I couldn’t question our endeavour for the ball but the skill level between the teams was miles apart.

The final term we tried hard and manage to score one goal through hard work, Rhys Taylor playing his first game for the cobras kicked our only major for the term well done!!! Rhys. We kept UHS-VU to five goals for the term with the final margin being 188 points.

So as you can see we have plenty of work to do, but with players coming back from injury and being available you will definitely see a change to our side in the coming weeks.

Heads up guys and ensure that we all get down to training to work hard in the next couple of weeks and let’s look forward to playing our best football against La Trobe.

Go Cobras!!!

Uncle Den

Seniors

Goal Kickers: J. Blakemore 3, R. Hummerston 2, G. Driscoll 2, D. Henschel, R. Pearce, J. Wilson, T. Lowden, J. Mreulje
Best Players: J. Blakemore, A. Hummerston, J. Mreulje, A. Carapetis, M. Wishart, J. Wilson

In our first game in winter for season 2017, we came up against the undefeated UHS/VU Vultures at the Snake Pit last Saturday June 3. With several out, we reshuffled our side to cover the losses of some key players with a plan to not only be competitive but get the win we felt.

With 2 sloppy turnovers on our behalf early getting UHS/VU out of the blocks, we were 14-0 down within 5 mins which was a concern. But we didn’t let this get to us, as we kept up our ferocious attack on the footy and turned the tide back our way to get the next goal and have the game on our terms for large chunks of the first half.

At half time and only 9pts down, we were full of confidence that what we were doing was working, and our pressure was making our opponents look over their shoulders and start to make uncharacteristic errors. With much improved ball movement out of D50, tackle numbers in the red zone, and backwards handballs allowing our players more time to deliver, we started to really roll in the third as we closed down the margin and got out to 8pts in front half way through the term. But this was as close as we could manage on this account, as our more polished opponents used the ball slightly cleaner than us when in possession to steady and get out to a 5 goal lead well into the last term.

To our boys credit, we never gave up, and the fight shown by all was inspiring as we got back to 19pts with 5mins left with only 2 on the bench since half time. But another goal to the top side sealed the game, as we gave it our all but fell just short in the end. The pleasing thing is that our attack on the footy is as good if not better than all sides in the comp, and with some improved ball use and furthering of our game style, we are seriously in the mix here and could get on a big roll in this back end of the season the way things are trending.

Andrew Hummerston was sensational at full back all day, setting up numerous counter attacks with his intercept marking and solid defensive play, Jason Blakemore continued his dominant form in the midfield and is starting to gel with the lads, Wombat was sensational and Clutch as usual, Jimmy Mreulje laid countless tackles and is a pleasure to coach, James Carrington was super again down back as was Matty Wishart and Boo Nah Nah who looks to be finding some form which is great, Jimmy Wilson really stepped up in Fitzgerald’s absence in the ruck and is starting to play like his talent suggests, Alex Carapetis played the defensive wingman quarterback role beautifully, and more importantly got through a game unscathed so great signs for Cara and the team, Bucky tried his guts out as did another 10 blokes so keep up the good work boys as we are getting close with things starting to click. Big game this week out at La Trobe so get excited!!……Love

Big game this week out at La Trobe so get excited!!……

Love Doaky……