Men Seniors
Travelling across town to face the 2nd placed West Brunswick with 8 forced changes from the round prior was always going to be a challenge we would relish.
A couple of missed chances and poor decision making in the first half left us just off the pace for much of the game.
A strong 3rd quarter by the boys in red, black and green unfortunately wasn’t reflected on the scoreboard and we trailed by 4 straight kicks going into the final term.
Coach Sharky implored the team to find another gear and win the game but unfortunately it wasn’t to be as the goals at the West Brunswick end of Ransford Oval became a funnel for any kick remotely close to them.
In the end the scoreboard probably wasn’t representative of the contest but credit to West Brunswick they took full advantage of their opportunities.
In the past 2 weeks we have played 2 very well drilled and talented sides, this is why they sit in the top 2 positions on the ladder.
There hasn’t been anything witnessed that is unbeatable and some more application on the training track, a few players back off the injury list and a bit of belief amongst the playing group will see the results start to come our way.
Best – Grech dominated all day in the ruck, also took some great contested grabs. O’Brien was terrific in his senior debut on the wing. Haylock, Barnes, O’Malley and Costello were strong as always down back.
Score – West Brunswick 15.14.104 to Aquinas 6.6.42
Women Seniors
4-0 coming into the round and up against the only other undefeated team in the competition UHS-VU the challenge was clear from the outset.
A strong if not dominant start from the Aquinas girls belied what was to come as we went into ¼ time up by 14 points.
The next 2 quarters of football was undoubtedly the best we’ve seen from this team in their 4 year history with the 3rd in particular out of this world.
Chelsea Tucker took over in the ruck, helped enormously by her midfield of Kalen and Em Winters, Courtney Weeks, Meg Dargan, Molly Sheehan and Zoe Smith.
The backline was incredibly strong all day and the forward line took their chances.
Some great set shots from distance mixed with some awesome crumbing work, highlighted by the first goal and associated celebration from former club captain Taylor Leslie.
The last quarter saw a bit of positional rotations as we tried a few things.
Best – Shifter Sheehan, Kalen Winters & Meg Dargan in the guts, Chelsea Tucker in the ruck was an enormous replacement for the absent Tash Derksen, Carla Barics was impressive again down back with her decision making a highlight and Laura McHugh with 4 goals was terrific as a high forward.
Score – Aquinas 13.7.85 to UHS-VU 1.3.9
Women Reserves
Another dominant performance from the young guns in red, black and green.
Keeping the opposition scoreless was a testament to their concentration and discipline all day.
Scoring accuracy is probably one thing to work on as there will come closer games and we want to be taking full advantage of our good work around the ground.
Overall the way this team plays is very exciting to watch and most importantly they play for each other and have fun.
Best – Holly Sutherland was a force in the ruck kicking 4 goals and gains senior selection this week, skipper Ella Furniss was huge down back even snagging a goal for herself and Ruby Dwyer & Ruby Crisp on debut were impressive in the middle of the ground.
Score – Aquinas 8.20.68 to UHS-VU 0.0.0
Men Reserves
A very tough day at the office with reinforcements brought in from all corners of Melbourne to fill a side.
Playing against a very well drilled opposition it was a tough day from start to finish.
Best – Some shining lights were Alsop down back, former coach Judge up forward, Prouse & Westwood in the middle of the ground, Hamilton also wound back the clock in a strong performance.
Score – West Brunswick 26.18.174 to Aquinas 4.5.29
U19s
The Unders headed out to Preston to tackle the Bullants.
An even first half highlighted by 2 goals to Dylan Perna and Paddy Dunne saw the Bloods head in 2 goals up at half time.
The 3rd was our best quarter for the game.
A hot streak from Sam Glennie where he kicked 2 goals & a poster from 45m in a minute saw the Unders extend their lead to 32 points at ¾ time.
A fired up Preston pulled it back to 5 points with 6 minutes to go until Conor O’Brien pushed himself into the middle and dragged us over the line, kicking a crucial goal to push the margin out to 11 points and sealing the victory.
Best – Asciak, Perna, J Glennie, B Livingstone, Flack, Wanless
Score – Preston 9.12.66 to Aquinas 11.11.77