Another glorious Brisbane day greeted the young Pumas down the road from home at Beenleigh. It was another early game which I am starting to get to like (frees up the rest of Sunday) and the boys are getting more used to and the ground was, as Dauth Park always is, in perfect condition. It was another big game for us as Beenleigh, as we knew from a practice match earlier in the year, had some very good players and would be tough to beat, especially on their home ground. Beenleigh’s ground is a perfect cricket field, it is almost a perfect circle, not an oval, it is very wide on the wings and not all that long and so it does take a while to get your bearings on it. It’s a great ground though, one of the best in the South East, I would love to play there every week.
A lot of changes to the side from last week with injuries to Caleb Kennedy and Jake Keeble and overnight illnesses from Jack Rogers (thanks for the 4.00am text Jack, not a thrilled wife) and Brighton Page but it was still a side on paper that if they played to their abilities and played their roles they would put up a tough contest. We were kicking with a slight breeze in the first quarter but had to contend also with the regular morning dew which made the footy a little hard to handle. As a result the first quarter was pretty scrappy at times but a couple of late goals gave us a good advantage at the first break. We came to play as we were certainly competing well, our tackle count started off well and there was good enthusiasm all around the ground. A reminder to the group that a good start is just a start though and still plenty of work to do. Special mention here to Zach King for his job on one of Beenleigh’s main playmakers, he blanketed him beautifully and late in the quarter even saw his opponent brought to the bench, that was a big win for us and especially too for Zach who showed that he can play that sort of role if we need him too. Plenty of recognition for that at the break from his team mates who realised how important that was for us.
I thought it was the second quarter that really set the game up for us as we really lifted our work rate going into a stiffening breeze and our solid defence kept them to just the 1 goal for the quarter. It was hard work though, Beenleigh were playing some good footy, as I said they have some good players and a couple of their boys in particular were hurting us with their run and carry, especially out of defence. There was a terrific battle going on between our chf Jared and their chb Nick and it reminded me a bit of the old Paul Van Der Haar v Dermott Brereton days back in the 70s/80s (yes I am showing my age), it was great to watch. Full credit to Jared too for sticking at it, more on that later. A happy coach and happy boys at half time, their hard work was paying dividends and we led by 35 points at the main break. The message was pretty simple, just keep doing our basics well and don’t let the scoreboard dictate how you play, we needed to win the quarter well and snuff out any chance our opponents had of coming home with the breeze and pinching it.
The 3rd quarter was a bit disappointing as it turned out. I think the scoreboard did have an effect as we really dropped our work rate. Our tackle count fell away, Beenleigh were allowed far too many uncontested possessions and the free kick count ballooned out (8 for the quarter for Beenleigh) and this simply gave our opponents far too much easy possession. Fortunately for us they weren’t able to capitalise thanks to some excellent defensive work but the fact is we fell away and gave them an outside chance of stealing the game coming home with the breeze in the last quarter.
On reflection I think the boys realised after our ¾ time chat that they had just let the standard slip a bit because they went out and made amends for it in the last term. Our tackle count lifted (doubled to 8) the free kicks evened out (just the 4) and Beenleigh weren’t able to run and carry the ball with any efficiency because we worked harder to be more accountable to our direct opponent. The final margin of 50 points was pleasing but as often happens it doesn’t tell the story of how hard the boys had to work to get it. It wasn’t an easy day by any means and Beenleigh will be a tough team to beat again in the future.
It really was again a team effort but Jack Taylor, back from a fractured jaw, was awesome across half back as was vice captain Rhys. Zach, as mentioned earlier, did a great job on his opponent early and then won plenty of his own footy later in a different role. I’d hate to play on Adam he’s a hard nut and there aren’t too many easy kicks there, well done Ads. Our midfield of Mitch, Ryan, Lachy, Liam, skipper Matt, Jayden (and very good across half back too) and Jack Mackey were busy all day and won plenty of contested ball for us and our forwards were presenting well and despite being a little off target at times were always dangerous. I was particularly pleased with Jared’s game as he was up against his toughest opponent all year and never dropped his head. He still finished with 3 hard earned goals and had a hand in a couple of others so he still made a valuable contribution for us. He stuck at it and never got frustrated, exactly what a leader has to do, well done Jared. Jack Leahy was in a similar situation too, was a little quieter than in previous weeks but still presented hard and finished with a 4 goal haul to cap off a good contribution from him. Brandon chipped in with a couple and is proving a good foil for Jared and Jack. It’s not always going to be easy so it’s great to see the forwards continue to work hard for the full 80 minutes.
Final scores Springwood 11-16-82 def Beenleigh 4-8-32
Goalkickers Jack Leahy 4, Jared Denny 3, Brandon Lynch 2, Liam Eddy 2
Still no idea who we are playing this week but it has been confirmed that we are staying in our current division. Still plenty of tough games to come and still so much work to do and improvement to be made, I’m looking forward to the challenge, I hope you guys are too.
Last Modified on 21/05/2013 11:00