Villi’s U18s & U16s Match Report – Round 12

UNDER 18s

Our Under 18s had a good win against West Adelaide on Saturday, winning a high quality game by 18 points.

West Adelaide started very well kicking the first 3 goals of the game and were very efficient with their forward entries and scoring regularly. We didn’t kick a goal until the 21 minute mark of the first quarter but followed that up with another quick goal on the siren and we were 7 points down at quarter time.

After both teams traded goals early in the second, we burst to life with four in a row to get out to a 19 point lead but the Bloods hit back with 2 goals in the last 5 minutes to reduce our lead to 7 points at half time.

Westies again started well in the third quarter kicking the first 2 goals to get in front again and it took us until the 14 minute mark before we goaled for the quarter but then we kicked three in a row to take back the lead before another late West Adelaide goal that reduced our margin to just 5 points at three quarter time.

It was set up for a thrilling last quarter and both teams traded early goals before we kicked 2 goals quickly and we then defended well and closed out the match to win by 18 points.

Many players contributed and Seb Cavallaro and Rom Clemente continued their great form in our midfield, Noah Ah Chee and Jensen Frantz were strong attacking defenders for us and Lachie Marshall-Bates (4 goals), Michael Daly (3 goals) and Jack Marks (2 goals) were great targets for us in our Forward 50.

This week we debuted Jack Southwood who did some nice things in his first game – this makes it 43 players who have played under 18s in our twelve games so far.

Our next assignment is the second placed

Shane Reardon – U18 Coach

UNDER 16s

This week we were back at Maughan Thiem Kia taking on West Adelaide after a strong couple of weeks we welcomed back our college players who will be with us for the next 4 games.

Two first gamers put on the Eagles Under 16 Guernsey this week, congratulations to Jonathan Pentland and Archie Marshall who both had to battle some injuries during the early part of the season to get their opportunity.

The weekends game was one of two halves for our group. The first half showcased the brand of football we strive to play week to week against the best teams in the competition. We were strong in the contest, applying excellent pressure and playing with a genuine team-first mindset. Our ball movement and transition game created opportunities, and our forwards competed strongly in the air while maintaining good forward-half pressure. We went into half time 2 points down.

Unfortunately, we were unable to maintain that level of performance across the second half. Our intensity and work rate dropped after half-time, allowing West Adelaide time and space to move the ball and capitalise on multiple inside 50 entries kicking 12 goals to 2 across the second half.

The game reinforced that our best football is built on winning the contest, applying pressure, and playing for each other. The challenge moving forward is to sustain these behaviours across all four quarters and consistently execute our roles when momentum shifts.

Congratulations also to Tyson Schultz and Damien Wanganeen who played in the State Under 16s game V Western Australia over the weekend also.

This week we get another opportunity against North Adelaide another top 4 side at Prospect

Todd Clarke – U16 Coach