Round 5 Match Reports (2022)

Senior Men:

La Trobe 27.19 (181) defeated Eley Park Sharks 1.7 (13)
Goal Kickers: Riley Alexander 5, Bryce Dowler 5, Archie Conboy 3, Lachlan Webb 2, Sam Benetti-Baker 2, Kane Newby 2, Josh Horder 2, Ernie Fan, Ben Vicary, Nathan Richardson, Connor McCredden, Pat Lindsay, Riley Keath

Best Players: Lachlan Webb, Archie Conboy, Ben Vicary, Sam Benetti-Baker, Connor McCredden, Will Lowry

Without The Midday Show this week our senior boys decided to put on a show of their own with a 168-point thumping of Eley Park Sharks on the road.

Josh Horder, in his first game back in the seniors, got the ball rolling with the opening goal. Quickly followed by a running banana from Sam Benetti-Baker as he found the scoreboard for the first time this season. From there the goals kept flowing with a seven to one goal first term. Ben Vicary, Sam Benetti-Baker and Riley Keath dominated the contest early, while debutants Archie Conboy and Kane Newby made their presence known from the get-go.

The second quarter saw the floodgates open as we piled on another eight goals to their none. Kane Newby kicked his first of two for the day, as Riley Alexander kicked four of his five in the first half. Will Lowry was finding plenty of the footy and using it well, while Lachlan Webb continued to break the lines as he took the game on. Nathan Richardson and Ernie Fan were both rewarded with a goal each for their pressure efforts inside 50.

With a 91-point lead at the half and ten goal kickers, our boys were determined to make this a statement game and not get complacent. Bryce Dowler continued his great 2022 form with three goals in the third term to take his tally to five for the day, while Pat Lindsay continued to be an option higher up the ground. With a little bit more play in the defensive half, Robbie Fawcett and Adrian Marulli stood tall winning the one-on-one contests and allowing run off half back for Connor McCredden, which included kicking a great goal on the run from outside 50! Tyler Costa won plenty of the footy, especially once the game turned wet in the last quarter, but it was Archie Conboy on debut who made the final term his own with three goals in a row! Eventually running out winners by 28 goals, it was a pleasant change for Damon Guy who played his first senior game since 2018 where we went down by 229. A massive 397-point turn around!

For the second year in a row both our Senior and Reserve Men’s sides have started the season 4-0, setting our seniors up for a big two weeks, taking on worthy rivals third-placed St Johns followed by arch-rivals second-placed Swinburne.

Senior Women:

La Trobe 0.1 (1) defeated by AJAX 2.5 (17)

Best Players: Ineka Hart, Eve Conlan, Steph Darlington, Jess Lowry, Jasmine Smith, Nat Cappelletti

Coming off last week’s defeat against the top team in the competition, we wanted to ensure we started the game well and win the contested footy throughout the game.

The first quarter was very tightly contested and both teams had a chance to attack and defend with some free flowing movement between the arcs. Both defensive units held up as neither team was able to hit the scoreboard.

For the second quarter we tried to tighten some things up and to ensure we kicked out into space where we looked our best. The second quarter was much like the first, although AJAX looked to get a little on top and managed to score a goal before the half-time siren.

The main break was all about making sure we kept building on our team chemistry and ensuring we could get back into the game.

Unfortunately AJAX kicked away in a very low and tight game but it left us to think our main thing to work on and to keep us in games is to improve our ball entry into the forward line and how to score.

Ineka Hart provided a great option for us across half forward all game and Eve Conlan keeps getting better and better each week on the wing. Jasmine Smith and Steph Castagnini were playing great games of footy until they both received head knocks.