Match Reports Round 8

U8 mixed

After a couple of weeks off the under 8's were keen to get into things.

The school holidays left us with only 16 playing on the day however I don't think anyone minded because it meant playing the whole game.

We were hosting The Vampires this week and our captains were Jake and William.

It was an excellent first quarter with both teams showing great patches of play. Olle and Hudson played their best quarters for the year. Both getting plenty of touches. Leo did some great work in defence saving a goal and also an excellent smoother. William, Lachie, Hunter, Jake and Stella also did some great things also.

Hudson and Olle continued their form in the second quarter. The forward line pressure was amazing and we were unlucky not to score more than we did. Both Hugo's, Lachie, Stella and Hunter did some brilliant tackles.

The third quarter was lead by our 2 captains in William and Jake. William had his best quarter for the year with plenty of touches and a great overhead mark. Jake kept his attack on the footy. Lachie also had an excellent quarter. Zack and Stella provided some excellent tackling.

The last quarter was amazing, both sides going hard. After the Vampires kicked a goal, the Colts stepped it up a gear and keep peppering it forward. Lachie kicked an amazing goal on the run. It was a very close fought match.

By far this was our best performance playing as a team. There was an even contribution and it was great seeing the team skills improve. Well done to everyone.

This week's awards went to Hudson and Olle.

U9 mixed

- no report

U10 mixed

Murrumbeena JFC v Port Colts, Murrumbeena Oval 2

The Colts travelled away for the first time in a while after the School Holiday bye weekends and landed in unfamiliar territory in suburban Murrumbeena for a game against the Griffins.

Quarter 1

The first quarter began with Dominic R (13) winning the centre bounce. For several minutes both sides fought hard to win the ball out of the centre but it wasn’t until Jackson (57) crashed through the pack in the midfield to kick the ball forward that Dominic R (13) was able to get hold of the ball and kick it to Ethan C (7) who kicked for goal but scored a point. Our forwards managed to keep the ball in our forward line with some tough tackling, eventually Jacob (19) got the ball and kicked our first goal.

Dion (16) was relentless in the centre trying to win the ball and get it to our forward line but when the Griffins eventually gained control and kicked forward our defence was tested, fortunately Domenic SH (18) and Harper (3) played solid roles and denied Murrumbeena a score. Our forwards continued to apply pressure on the opposition and again Jacob (19) was able to score another goal.

At the centre bounce Georgio (10) managed to get a handball to Tom K (17) who kicked forward, eventually Tommy (29) laid a fabulous tackle and was very unlucky not to be rewarded with a goal.

In summary Dominic R (13), Dion (16) and Jasmine (2) were great contributors out of the midfield, Jacob (19) was punishing up forward and Harper (3) was solid in the backline. Overall it was a great team effort with everyone contributing pressure around the ground.

Quarter 2

The second quarter began with Ben (23) winning the centre bounce but Murrumbeena won the centre clearance and the ball made it’s way into our backline. Jacob (19) and Harry (12) worked hard to deny the opposition a score. Eventually Jacob got hold of the ball, he passed it to Harry (12) who found Ben (23) on the wing, Ben then passed it to Dominic R (13) who found Dion (16) in the forward line and he kicked a great snap across his body from a tight angle for a goal, it was a great passage of play by the Colts.

The ball again found its way into our backline and Ethan (7), Oscar (9) and Cooper (1) all worked hard trying to prevent Murrumbeena from scoring but eventually, they kicked a goal. When Jackson (57) took a strong mark in the midfield and kicked forwards Georgio (10) he was able to eventually get hold of the ball but a quick snap was touched on the line.

In summary Murrumbeena attacked a lot more this quarter with the wind. Jacob (19) and Ethan (7) were solid in defence, Jackson (57) and Ethan D were great in the midfield making several tackles and clearances and our forward line of Dominic R (13), Dion (16) and Georgio (10) applied lots of pressure without success on the scoreboard.

Quarter 3

Early in the quarter the ball made it’s way into our forward line where Lenny (14) placed a strong tackle and enabled Harper (3) to take possession and shoot for goal, unfortunately he kicked a point.

The ball then made its way into our backline, Dion (16) was relentless with his tackling and eventually the ball moved to the midfield where Cooper (1) and Jack (6) combined to kick the ball forward where Ben (23), Jacob (19) and Zac (8) all contributed lots of pressure on the opposition and enabled Oscar (9) to kick a great goal.

The Griffins attacked forward and although Dominic R (13), Dion (16) and Georgio (10) tried hard and put pressure on the opposition however Murrumbeena managed to score a goal into the wind.

We bounced back with a quick reply when the ball made it to our forward line and Zac (8) released a great handball to Harper (3) who kicked a goal. This was shortly followed up when Jack (6) took a great defensive mark and kicked it to Harper (23) in the midfield who kicked forward and enabled Ben (23) to kick a goal, another significant passage of play by the Colts.

In Summary Dom R (13), Dion (16) and Georgio (10) were solid in defence, Jacob (19) was very busy in the midfield supported by Liam (24) and Harper (3) and Oscar (9) were great in the forward line where they applied a lot of pressure on Murrumbeena. At the break Coach Kogs and Deputy Dan made the team aware that Murrumbeena will come at the Colts in the last quarter as they were kicking with the wind.

Quarter 4

In the last quarter Eddie (22) worked very hard to win the ball out of the centre but as expected Murrumbeena lifted their intensity and attacked forward to be rewarded with a goal. Despite the great show of intent from Tom K (17), Ben (23) and Harper (3) in defence the Griffins managed to get through and scored another couple of goals in quick succession.

Our coaches responded quickly and shifted the team around to strengthen our back line. Dion (16) and Jacob (19) were testament to this change and laid several tackles to slow the momentum of Murrumbeena. This proved to be very effective and the Colts did a fantastic job to maintain the pressure and intensity to deny Murrumbeena any further scoreboard pressure.

In summary there were very few opportunities for our forward line going against the wind, the game was basically played in the midfield and our backline. Once the siren had gone the Colts realised they had done enough to finish in front by a narrow margin.

Best player award

Jacob (19) had another fantastic game, he contributed solidly across the four quarters no matter where he was on the field.

Wrap Up

It was a very competitive contest and the Colts rose to the challenge when they were tested throughout the game. This is great preparation for a Round 9 clash away to Hampton East this weekend, a team who got the better of us the last time the teams met in Round 5.

U11 mixed

It was an amazing outing at Prahran today with a very competitive and enjoyable game against a very pumped up Prahran. I noted them doing ARMY push-ups prior to the game. I felt it was a TALE OF TWO HALVES.

NOW unfortunately with Hamish, George, Liam, Trace, Mozart and Ethan P out we began with only 16 boys plus an injury to Jacob early in the third qtr this left us with 15 of our players.

The first half was a very fought defensive game and our structures were not quite what they should have been with Prahran operating with what seemed to be a spare man in attack. This was rectified but they gained the upper hand early with a couple of goals and points in the first quarter. I felt Connor and Luke were absolutely great in the first quarter with solid marking and kicking by Luke and solid defensive efforts by Connor off the ground.

With quarter time 2.1 13 to our zero we threw Luca onto a wing and put Henry forward to mix things up and enhance our pace.

In the second quarter, Prahran seemed to have gained confidence plus with their extra players off the bench their run and polish was very good. Ashton, Taj and Luke provided some great drive out of the centre with Taj showing some great strength in breaking tackles. Ashtons marking and general fitness engine was also greatly on display but Prahran just got the edge on us. Jacques, Angus and Henry showed some great kicking, drive and strength. A special mention to Ethan B who showed pace and an ability to move the ball forward under pressure to help us. Luke was still playing very well. Half time score of 4.4 28 to 1 point was not entirely reflective of some of our effort.

We made a few changes and concentrated in the third quarter more on better ball movement with this quarter being very competitive and our structures seemed to be spot on. We had the added difficultly of learning the 2 new players names and trying to get used to them. Three qtr time was 4.8 32 to 1 point but this was a very even quarter that provided some opportunities for us to score not quite taken advantage of. I recall Archie saving us right in the backline and rushing one through which was great play with Chris providing some strength in repelling a couple of Prahran charges forward. A big mention to SAGE here who ABSOLUTELY repelled 3 or 4 dangerous Prahran movements forward. I actually recall on one occasion Sage being outnumbered 3 to 1, then winning the ball with a great handpass to the Ashton Machine who drove it forward for a scoring chance. Great play Sage/Ashton here. Well done Sage.

We finally achieved some rewards for effort in the last quarter with many driving plays forward and a great chaos ball forward from a Taj midfield drive to Henry kicking it up into the forward pocket where it was marked by Daniel and an easy GOAL was scored. We kept Prahran goalless in the second half which was great.

We kept driving the ball (against a headwind forward in the last quarter) forward via Taj/Ash/Luke/Angy/Henry/Jacques and some Daniel Bootsy snap magic resulted in our second goal to bring us within 2 goals of Prahran.

Great second half boys, well done

Quick thank you to Adrian for helping me in the first half, Mark, Damo (as always), Trish, Anthony, Shannon, Brett for duties well performed….

U12 Girls

See match report here

U12 mixed

Rnd 8 - U12 Mixed Port Colts v Prahran JFC (Humphery-Smith), Sunday 11th July at Toorak Park

It was a special experience to be playing at former VFA ground Toorak Park. From the cavernous grandstand one could imagine the hallowed players who had graced that turf including Kevin Sheedy, Brian Taylor and Sam “The Orchid” Pang (he needed perfect conditions to thrive). Captain Leo trotted the team from the cave into bright sunshine, tossed the coin and it was goodbye holidays, welcome back footy.

We expected the Two Blues to be a “quality opposition”, but the early stages were like a phoney war with each team testing each other out. It was “them” that finally broke the deadlock with a first goal. But soon enough some great Colts link-up play got us back on par at the High Street end. Ewan took an elevated crashing chest mark back with the flight at half-forward and pinpointed Will with a pass. Then our Swans supporter, with a heart as big as Albert Park Lake, went back and popped it through surely from about 30m out. Sadly it was to be our only six pointer for the day.

Prahan gradually got on top as the first half progressed. By half-time, it was a seven-goal to one match. Colts pressure had somewhat reduced the damage as they shanked a lot of opportunities and kicked nine points. Jonesy at centre halfback had played like a demon, often competing against two or three opponents at once. Eddy was steady, watchful and highly effective at full-back. Ozkar is playing out of his skin every week with skill improvement that has been remarkable. As you can deduce, it was a game for our backmen.

The third quarter was commendable. Players dug in around the contest and we managed to ferret the ball onto our outside runners such as Finn and Koby. Cohen palmed some delightful hit outs to Emma on the run. Alas, our promising forward attacks were stunted by a well-organised Prahran defence.

The last quarter turned into a semi-rout. With tackles being missed and a few players getting fatigued Prahan twisted the sword with five goals. Newly minted State player Emma kept competing hard, as did Will, Jonesy and Ardi. Liam, in our defence, made his presence felt with some sturdy marking, bodywork and sure kicking.

For those feeling singed by our season so far maybe find some sustenance in a quote by another Nelson (Mandela): “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

Though someone else said that “a souffle never rises twice”, we’ll keep trying to cook up our second win of the season. And if we don’t succeed we’ll have as much fun as we can trying to make a mess in the kitchen of those pesky Panthers at home. Turn up the heat and Go Colts!

Prahran JFC 15.11.101 Port Melbourne Colts 1.2.8

Goalkickers: W. Bacon

U14 Girls

- No Report

U16 Girls

Match Report: July 11, 2021 Port Melbourne Colts v St Peters / Bentleigh

On a beautiful winters day, the colts ventured out to centenary park in Bentleigh East to take on St Peters / Bentleigh - a merged club who had 23 on the playing list for the day.

After a flurry of morning WhatsApp traffic it was determined we had 10 players - which would have would have meant a forfeit. Thankfully we had Ruby, Hannah and Tully all step up from the U14s to assist which gave us enough players to take the field.

St Peters coaching and Team Admin were a great bunch and they also added 2 players to us - one girl who was also an Interleague player and volunteered to play.. and she starred.. maybe a recruiting drive into the heart of Bentleigh is required …..

Anyway onto the match, We chatted briefly before the game about the impact of Lockdown 4, loss to Cheltenham and then 2 weeks school holidays - and whether the mojo was waning…. Girls assured me they were fired up a ready to go.

We made some positional changes to our line up with Hannah going to Full Back, Izzy to Centre Half Back and Caitlin to Full Forward. These moves worked really well and our structure around the ball was fantastic.

It was awesome to see the run from Hannah out of full back, strong and quick consistently moving the ball from the last line of defence out to the wing with her run and carry and long kicking. Izzy had her usual attack on the ball and made many great late spoils to thwart St Peters forwards.

With these two key positions held down allowed for Sedona and Rachael to play with attacking freedom. I believe that was the best game Sedona has played for the club! Tenacious, skilful and solid in defence… Well done.

Our midfield was up to is usual standard, Gwen contesting hard in the ruck, Cam bulldozing her way out of the middle, Ella balanced and poised with excellent foot skills and Jess reading the play like a good book, always in the right place, sweeping up the pack and delivering with precision to our forwards. Hannah from our U14s slotted nicely into this group and worked hard in the packs.

Up forward we had great contesting from our talls. - Siena and Caitlin. We peppered the goals (5 points in the first qtr.. maybe all of them Sienas? ) perhaps some goalkicking practice is needed….

Ruby and Tully provided coverage up forward as well, fighting hard to keep the ball in the forward 50.

Whilst we controlled the play we hadn’t hit the scoreboard, second qtr and Cam and Ella stood up and booted 4 goals between them. This gave the Colts a commanding lead at Half time.

We went into the rooms and chatted about the game, our defence was rock solid (no goals) our forwards started to have an impact on the scoreboard and we had the game on our terms.

After half time St Peters to their credit threw everything at us. They had fresh legs and were able to keep plenty of rotations going, our girls worked extremely hard and countered their push.

At 3/4 time we spoke about keeping our standards up, and to continue to restrict their forward movement, we did that admirably - ZERO goals against for the game….

I made mention at the end of the game to both playing groups that I believed it was one of the best examples of Junior Girls football, fierce, fast and highly skilful. Well done.

Final scores were 7-8 50 to 0.2 2

Goal Scorers -

I’m missing one and its not on the SMJFL site yet, so someone can correct me.

Cam 3, Siena 2, Ella 1..

Best - really hard for me to single out as we had such a strong showing by everybody. What was really pleasing was the even contribution across the team.. This is what makes a GREAT football team, a champion team will always beat a team of champions.

A big thank you to our St Peters volunteers, Abby and Mia, Abby was rock solid in defence and stopped at least 2 goals.. I’m sure she will be popular at training this week!

Now onto this week and moving forward, it was difficult having only 10 starters and having to rush around at the last moment to pull a team together. Footy is a team game and we make a commitment to each other, we are onto something special here with this group and Steve and I believe we can have a strong showing in the finals. We need everybody committed and excited to be part of this journey.

Let's get down to training Wednesday, ready to go at 6:30.. so try and arrive by 6:25.

Awesome job again ladies, you make us all very proud.

Coach Chris

See TeamApp for Bolts match reports.