Season 2013 got underway for the Springwood Pumas Under 16s in bright sunshine at Sherwood. There was a chance before the game that we might not play, quite a lot of rain on the Saturday forced the cancellations of a lot of fixtures but fortunately not ours. You actually would not have even known it rained because Sherwood’s ground was in perfect condition and that, combined with an awesome autumn’s day, bode well for a good game of footy.
Our first up opponents in this first grading fixture was Redcliffe. Both Redcliffe’s Under 16s and 14’s were in Division One last year so no doubt, despite losing a lot of good players to nearby Aspley and Sandgate, they would be well versed in the requirements of top level footy. We were expecting a tough day at the office and that looked like being the case early when Redcliffe scored the first goal in the first few minutes. It took us a while to settle but once we did and once we got on the scoreboard the confidence began to lift and we were away. For the reminder of the term we kept them scoreless and we managed to go in 11 points up, and that could have been more but we missed quite a few chances during the quarter.
What little breeze there was we had in the second term and it was in this quarter that we really started to control the game. Our defence, led by newly appointed vice captain Rhys, was solid and our midfield, led by newly appointed skipper, Matt, was winning plenty of footy around the stoppages. Up forward newly appointed vice captain Jared was marking everything and the rest of the boys were working feverishly to lock the ball inside our forward 50. A 4 goal lead at half time was a good reward but there were signs that we were starting to move away from the game plan, a couple of lazy things and whether that was through growing tiredness or feeling too comfortable with a lead was what we had a chat about at half time.
Refreshed, the boys came out strongly in the 3rd quarter and kicked a further 3 unanswered goals to put the game into safety with a lead of about 7 goals. The ¾ time message was pretty simple, work hard for another quarter and continue to tick all the boxes of the outcomes we wanted. Another 3 goals to zip in the last, as any sting went out of the game and stronger players from both sides were rested, was very pleasing and we walked off the ground happy with our endeavours for the day.
We spoke before the game about the relative non-importance of the scoreboard, after all there were no points on offer, and I meant every word of it. The thing though is when you have a group of 7 or 8 boys who never won a game last year and another group of about the same number who maybe won 4 (at the most) there is a smallish reason to feel good about a win, and so the team song was sung and it was hoped that those boys would remember the words. What was really pleasing from a coaching point of view was the way we transferred the things we have been working hard on at training to game day. Things like tackling, ball movement, numbers at and around stoppages, forward set ups etc etc you could see the boys starting already to get the idea and that was fantastic. Also pleasing to see how our new boys Jack Taylor, Brandon Lynch, Callum Baldwin and Joel Lindley fitted in so well and all made good contributions to the game.
What we have to be careful about though is not getting too far ahead of ourselves as we still have heaps of things to work on. Redcliffe hadn’t even played a practice match so will get better as the year progresses and they get to know each other and their own game plans and structures. I caught a bit of the Ipswich v Yeronga game after ours and both of those teams look very good, they will both be tough to play against. There are other teams that will be just as strong, going by the results of some other games played yesterday so we need to make sure we keep training well and improving so we can be a good match up for all these other sides. A great start to the year though, no doubt about it and lots to look forward to.
Final scores Springwood 12-11-83 def Redcliffe 3-6.24
Best players always difficult in a good team win but Jared Denny, Matt Leadbeater, Ryan Davies, Rhys Bernhagen, Brandon Lynch, Jack Taylor, Jayden Ruscoe, Jack Leahy and Brighton Page all were exceptional. Apologies to many others who played such good footy all day, it really was a great team display.
Goalkickers Brandon Lynch 4, Jared Denny 2, Jack Leahy 2, Ryan Davies 1, Jayden Ruscoe 1, Matt Leadbeater 1 and Brighton Page 1
Last Modified on 15/04/2013 15:15