Men’s Seniors
Aquinas 16.19.115 def Canterbury 7.12.54
The Bloods kickstarted their 2019 campaign with an emphatic 10-goal win over Canterbury Football Club. The Cobras came into the season as a highly touted side who were predicted to finish at the top end of the division 3 ladder. The Bloods knew they were in for a tough, intense and high quality match, which would require a full 4-quarter effort from the home side.
Aquinas jumped out of the blocks in assertive fashion, booting the first 5 goals of the game. Debutant key forward Josh ‘Robbo’ Robertson imprinted himself on the game early, taking multiple contested marks in the first term while also kicking his first goal in Aquinas colours.
The Bloods had an imposing 6-goal lead at the first break, however knowing the job was nowhere near done, coach Ash Naulty urged his team to not drop off the intensity in the next term. The Young Bloods followed orders and kicked 3 of the first 4 goals of the second quarter, with Robbo continuing his aerial dominance, helping himself to another 2 majors and setting up a handy 44-point buffer at the main break.
As all good sides do, Canterbury didn’t go down without a fight, kicking the opening 3 goals of the second half in quick fashion, drawing the margin to within 20-points. The remainder of the third quarter was a see-saw affair, as both sides lifted their intensity, producing a tight and tough term that saw the momentum swinging regularly. Robbo and Ash Naulty gave their side a bit of breathing space heading into the final break, kicking a much-needed goal apiece in time on.
The Naulty brothers (Lach & Ash) put the game out of reach early, kicking the opening two goals of the final quarter. The Bloods then ran away with the game, with inaccurate kicking in front of goal costing them a larger winning margin.
In a big day for the club, the senior team managed to field 6 debutants who all played a significant role in the win. Ryan Fisher was dominant in the midfield, with the backline trio in Barnes, Sund and O’Malley all having a big impact down back.
With the season reduced to just 14 games, every match has now become a must win. The Bloods have started their campaign in perfect fashion and will now have 2 weeks off before they take on old foe North Brunswick away.
Women’s Seniors
Aquinas 5.4.34 defeated by Old Ivanhoe 5.5.35
A thrill of excitement surrounded Great Ryrie St for Round 1 as what felt like a hard-trained preseason had come to an end. With 41 players, some returning and some new girls on the list ready to take on the 2019 season.
Newly appointed head coaches Andy La Marca and Jacob Kogelman, alongside assistants Mickey O and Jack McDonald had worked hard over the preseason to ensure the girls were ready for their 2019 journey.
Taylor Leslie (Captain) and Monique Elliot (Vice-Captain) led the women out for the first time at Bloods Stadium taking on Old Ivanhoe, whom they’d met with in 2018.
The women started well with first timer Chelsea Tucker in ruck and Tess McDonald on ball winning the centre clearances. Must be something in the water at the McDonald residence, as Tess suffered another devastating collar bone injury, we wish her well and can’t wait to have her on the side-lines alongside the coaching staff.
The women’s structures worked well, having most of the ball throughout the game and multiple insides 50s creating scoring opportunities for the Bloods. Old Ivanhoe were quick and clean with the ball, their one left footer in the team, meant a few quick snaps at goal and they were up at half time.
The Bloods were not done, keeping the Old Ivanhoe girls goalless in the third, giving Aquinas a chance. The women attacked hard at the ball, Izzy Sharma, Laura Vosti and Steph Barnes floating back, leading by example in the best.
First time goals for the Bloods to Abbey Starling (2) and Holly Spicer cut the deficit to just 1 point at three quarter time.
Old Ivanhoe with a goal after the siren to draw the game; and a scoring controversy meant the opposition took the win. The Bloods will take the loss, and learn from it, hoping to come back stronger next week when we take on Old Carey away at 2pm.
Reserves
Aquinas 9.15.69 defeated Canterbury 8.16.64
The 2s of Bloodstown took on the Canterbury Cobras on the top oval, in a rare trip off Broadway Bottom Oval.
It was a fascinating contest in the first half, with the Cobras dominating clearances but failing to latch onto the hard running Aquinas men, who found themselves with a handy 6 goal lead at half time. But for some average misses, the game would have been sewn up at that point.
The 3rd quarter saw the centre clearance fruits ripen for Canterbury as they utterly dominated the quarter. Thankfully they were woefully inaccurate – 2.7 I believe – which kept the margin at a steady 4 goals. It is believed but not confirmed that they were put off by some Bloods referring to them as Snakes rather than Cobras, a rather crude but necessary tactic from the home team.
The Bloods had 4 or 5 simple chances throughout the last quarter to put the game away but had a nasty case of the yips – there were many offenders. Canterbury to their credit kept pushing, and in the end the Bloods were hanging on for dear life, barely registering a win against an opponent that will surely be up there come season’s end.
A special mention to the backline who were bombarded in the last quarter – certain individual game saving efforts came from debutant Nick ‘Miley’ Hannah, who came from the clouds to effect a spoil on the far wing when the Cobs were out, and the bravest man in the league, Brave Matthew the Second Westwood who showed courage in several marking and groundball contests.
It was a case of 22 amazing performers in the first half and very few in the second half – another debutant Cridda running hard and providing silky disposal all day, while a rogue Flippers Foley was ever present in the air.
A tough win, with a lot of work to be done before an unknown opponent in North Brunswick.
Brouhaha and prosperity to all Bloods supporters across the lands.
U19’s
Aquinas 12.12.84 defeated by Ajax 14.11.95
The Unders took on Ajax in Round 1 in the early game on the bottom oval. Looking to start well we were blown away early conceding the first 5 goals of the game before putting our 1st goal on the board through Dylan Cawsey in his first game for the club right on 1/4 time.
The 2nd quarter started much like the 1st with Ajax kicking the opening 2 goals to push the margin out to 38 pts. The onballers were asked to lift and they responded, lifting there tackle pressure, causing turnovers and the result was 5 goals in a row as Sam Thorsen and Bayley Scagnetti started to get on top of their respective opponents, half time saw us down by 6 pts.
Unfortunately Ajax had all the answers in the 2nd half, a 3 goal lead at 3/4 time quickly blew out to 6 goals, before another late rally saw us kick 4 to bring the margin to a reasonable 11 pts.
Not the start we were after but we look forward to hitting back this week, 7 15pm, Friday night under lights at Parkside, Pitcher Park.
Best Players, Glennie, Ben Livo, Reichart, Asciak, Smith and Thorsen with 4 goals