The first of two weekends of practice matches for our Senior & U/19 Men & Women saw four good hit-outs on Saturday with very encouraging signs for all teams involved: the Men at Springvale and the Women at Westbourne Grammar.
The U/19’s kicked off on a Springvale ground in very good condition against last year’s Premier Division title holders – Old Brighton – and the boys had a terrific contest all day with Brighton prevailing by a couple of goals at the finish. The U/19 coaching panel were extremely pleased with the standard of footy played by both teams all day and the fact that our boys were able to match it with some great passages of play throughout the game against the top team.
Then our new Reserves Coach, Nathan Prosser, watched on as his charges led from start to finish with some strong marking and quick ball movement which led to an 80 points victory. Plenty of depth for Nathan and Drew Kelly this year to ensure they field two strong Reserve’s & Youth Reserve’s teams in 2025.
The Seniors then lined up against SFL Division One team, Springvale Districts, who had some well-known and highly regarded recruits from Noble Park in their line-up. It was a close and entertaining match with the Sharks starting slowly, but about even by half-time, before those big-name recruits imposed themselves late in the game for a 13.5 to 10.6 victory to Springvale.
Josh Bourke and his Senior coaching panel saw nothing but positive signs from this group playing their first practice match for the year, especially with the form of the younger brigade. Peter Pecer in his second Senior season was joined by former U/19 players Aiden McCarthy, Tom O’Rourke, Angus Bowd, Riely Collins, Carlos Reynolds & Jacob Whitehouse and they all fitted in well and will keep improving. Another positive was seeing Joel Cusack, Joel Di Natale, Josh Gorman & Tom Spencer return from injuries and Liam Hayes back from his overseas travels while we kook forward to seeing James Taylor, Riley Mihailovic, Oscar McMaster, Ben Matthews, Josh Trew, Kieran Dyer & Ben Seers return from illness, injury, Iron Man & Surf Life Saving competition and the Canadian ski slopes some-time soon. Bring It On!
Out at Westbourne the Women’s team played six quarters and rotated 26 players during the game for a close win after a good contest & hit-out! The new Women’s Coaching panel led by Sam Calogero was pleased with the effort from a fairly young group and he feels that they are learning quickly.
Next Weekend’s Practice Matches
Next weekend the Men’s teams venture out to Williamstown with all three sides to play teams rated in higher VAFA grades for 2025 and this will give the coaches a great indication of how our boys are going in their preparations for the coming season.
Sat 29th March All Men’s Matches at Fearon Reserve, Osborne St, Williamstown.
9.00am Under 19’s v Williamston CYMS Premier VAFA U/19’s.
11.00am Reserves v Williamstown CYMS B Grade VAFA
1.00pm Seniors v Williamstown CYMS B Grade VAFA
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9.30am Senior Women Intraclub Match at Linen House (Seaford).