vafa – La Trobe University Football Club

Round 15 Match Reports (2021)

Published on 1 August 20211 August 2021 by Simon HastLeave a comment

Round 15 Match Reports (2021)

SENIOR MEN:

La Trobe 7.6 (48) defeated by St Johns OC 8.13 (61)
Goal Kickers: Joe Gibson 3, Josh Horder, Bryce Dowler, Nathan Richardson, Sam Benetti-Baker.
Best Players: Joe Gibson, Calvin Ross, Tyler Costa, Bryce Dowler, Andy Castles, Harry Baker.

After yet another lockdown it was good to be back playing on Tony Sheehan Oval again, unfortunately it wasn’t the Trobers day with St Johns slightly edging out the home team.

La Trobe got away to good start in blustery conditions but weren’t able to capitalise on their use of the scoring end as they led by just 8 points at the first break. A much improved second term saw the Trobers kick 3 goals into the wind to trail by just 7 points at the end of the half.

The breeze had dropped considerably for the second half as St Johns increased their lead to 14 points by the three-quarter time siren. Coach Andrew Sutherland urged his players to be daring in the final term and run their opponents off their feet! An early goal narrowed the gap but the visitors were able to absorb the pressure and go on to record a 13-point win.

It was a very tight tussle throughout the whole game but St Johns were just able to get a few more looks at the big sticks.

Joey “Giblet” Gibson was outstanding across the whole ground, but was most potent in front of goals, snagging three majors. Tyler Costa continued to be a ball magnet however, he still can’t kick it over a jam tin!

Andy Castles played a mighty game against an opposing ruckman who had about 25 kilos on him. Cas showed great leadership in fighting all day. Calvin Ross provided great run in the first half while Harry Baker and Bryce Dowler were also among the Trober’s best.

Three games to go in the home and away season, fingers crossed there are no more lockdowns!

In Round 16 we play South Melbourne Districts.

RESERVE MEN:

La Trobe 16.14 (110) defeated St Johns OC 5.8 (38)
Goal Kickers: Grant Dowler 4, Jordy O’Brien 3, Jaryd Coghill 2, Ryan Timmins 2, Ernie Fan, Martin Grinter, Campbell McKenzie, Laughlin Cargnali, Ryan Wills.
Best Players: Ernie Fan, Ryan Timmins, Jed Holland, Jonah Elias, Zac Tunks, Laughlin Cargnali.

Lockdown 5.0 was over, and The Midday Show was back at Tony Sheehan Oval to take on St Johns OC.

St Johns won the toss and chose to kick with the strong breeze. It was a hard-fought quarter, but goals to Jordy “Jobba” O’Brien and the returning Grant “Huss” Dowler saw the Trobers hold on and go into quarter time with the scores level.

The boys headed out in the second quarter determined to take advantage of the breeze and build a solid lead. The midfield, led by Ryan Timmins and Ernie Fan, started to get on top and win the clearance battle. The forward line really started to fire, with Jobba kicking two more goals, as Huss, Ryan Timmins, Martin “Ginnis” Grinter and Jarryd “Cogs” Coghill also slotting majors. La Trobe went into the half-time break leading by 37 points.

After half-time the Trobers looked to stop St Johns from taking advantage of the breeze, and with some solid play from the back six, led by Zachary Tunks and Laughlin Cargnali, saw them restrict St Johns to 3 goals for the quarter. La Trobe kicked a couple of goals into the breeze thanks to Cogs & Huss and finished the quarter with a 28-point lead.

The Midday Show kicked with a strong breeze in the final term and held St Johns scoreless. Jed Holland continued his solid game through the midfield and Jonah Elias presenting at half forward, before Burgo robbed him of the goal of the day because he ran too far! Goals were spread amongst the boys with 6 different goal kickers slotting one for the quarter: Ryan Wills, Cam McKenzie, Ernie Fan, Laughlin Cargnali, Ryan Timmins and Huss. The Trobers went on to record a comfortable win by 72 points.

Viva La Trobe!

Published by Lachlan Miller, Michael Correnti & Simon Hast 1.08.2021

Round 12 Match Reports (2021)

Published on 4 July 20214 July 2021 by Simon HastLeave a comment

Round 12 Match Reports (2021)

SENIOR MEN:

La Trobe 4.1 (25) defeated by South Melbourne Districts 20.15 (135)
Goal Kickers: Bryce Dowler 2, Dom Tracy, Riley Alexander.
Best Players: Andy Castles, Josh Rogerson, Sam Benetti-Baker, Tyler Costa, Ben Vicary, Harry Baker.

In what can only be described as a tough day at the office, the La Trobe boys came up against a pretty handy outfit in pretty poxy conditions on Saturday afternoon. An arctic wind favoured the scoreboard end goals and South Melbourne Districts took full advantage by slotting 6 majors while the Trobers kicked one into the wind.

South Melbourne was able to extend their lead throughout each quarter. Despite this, it was clear that La Trobe did not throw in the towel. There was clear effort all day and plenty of good things to work on moving forward.

Andy Castles was gallant in the ruck and collected a fair amount of the prune around the ground as well. Benny Vicary was also excellent in his first game back for 5 weeks while Bryce “Brucey Doull” Dowler also provided a solid target down forward.

One key takeaway from the day is that there needs to be some form of inquest into the state of the change room showers, they’re cold as a mother-in-law’s kiss!

A special mention to Tony Sheehan as well who shouted the slab of post game beers, Cheers Tony!

SENIOR WOMEN:

La Trobe had a BYE scheduled this week.

RESERVE MEN:

La Trobe 2.3 (15) defeated by South Melbourne Districts 13.21 (99)
Goal Kickers: Jordy O’Brien, Jonathan Tay.
Best Players: Jamie Koo, Campbell McKenzie, Jonah Elias, Ryan Timmins, Jacob Ellett, Jonathan Tay.

This week we took on the top side in South Melbourne Districts back on our home ground, Tony Sheehan Oval. The icy cold winds of winter were blowing in Bundoora, but thankfully the day was dry, with the rain coming the night before. We started kicking with the breeze but weren’t able to get the ball forward as South Melbourne were very strong around the contest. A highlight of the first term, Jamie Koo unloaded a torp from the kick out at fullback, getting the ball down to Cam McKenzie and going straight down the middle with a couple of kicks to get our first forward foray. Both of these players would continue to work hard all day, getting plenty of the footy and working hard to keep us competitive.

Quarter time came and the message from the coaches was to get numbers around the contest. This message was followed as many of our players worked hard to the contest but unfortunately The Bloods were able to set up well behind the ball and get the ball back to continually put our defence under pressure. Jake Ellett got plenty of the pill and cracked in hard at the contest but unfortunately many of his touches were behind centre.

At half time we were down by a bit and the aim was to work on the huddle when kicking out. To our credit we did in the third quarter, allowing us to be more effective at moving the ball out of defence and starting to push forward. Jonah Elias was great at hitting up at the footy and showed great strength around the contest.

In the final quarter our mids, after toiling all day, started to break through and get some ball forward of centre, rather than deep in defence allowing us to get some deeper forward entries. This was well led by Ryan Timmins and we were able to kick a couple of late snags, one to Jobba and another to Johnny Tay. I won’t regal Johnny’s goal here, as I’m sure he will tell you every detail multiple times!

We have the bye next week and then the final six weeks of the year in which we play South Melbourne once again which will be a great measure of how much we have improved in that time.