A’s Match Report​

Coaches Report

Hi All,

On Saturday we went out to North Haven to take on North Haven in what was a ‘must win’ for us, and probably for North Haven too considering ladder positions.

Going into the game we had 7 changes, most of which were forced. To have a third of the side turned over from the previous week was always going to be a challenge.

The start of the game was very tight with North Haven 2.1 to our 1.2. While behind on the scoreboard, we were kicking into a decent breeze and were quite happy with how the game was playing out.

After a strong 2^nd quarter, we led by 17 points at half time. Our backline was nothing short of brilliant in the first half and there was a brilliant contest happening in the middle with both midfields winning crucial one on ones.

The 3^rd quarter was very good for us, I felt that we played some of our best footy for the year in the first part of the quarter but to North Havens credit they stayed in touch and kicked a huge goal on the ¾ time siren.

Fortunately, we did enough to hold on and won by 10 points. That win keeps us in the finals race with a massive 2 weeks to go in the minor round.

Henry Papatolis was back to his absolute best form, he won the ball at clearances all day and his last quarter was nothing short of sensational. Declan Grant booted 3 goals which sees him hit 3^rd on the Div 2 goalkickers and he worked very hard all day, giving North haven defenders headaches.

Other good players on the day were Will Papatolis (3 goals), Finn Betterman (having a great season), Justin Whitford (turned Defender) and Tom Unger who is always so reliable. Riley Carter and Steve Williams also deserve a mention, they were 2 of the 7 inclusions on the day and they both were influential in the end result.

I would like to congratulate Rhys Arriola on his first A grade game on Saturday. Rhys acquitted himself very well and celebrated his 25^th birthday in style! A day Rhys won’t forget in a hurry.

This week we take on archrivals SHOC back at home. This is a huge game for so many reasons and I encourage all supporters to come out to cheers us on.

See you then.

Minnas