Villi’s U18s & U16s Match Report – Round 11

UNDER 18s

The Under 18s had a good victory against Sturt at Thomas Farms Food Oval (Unley) on Saturday, winning an entertaining clash by 25 points.  We started well with the first two goals of the game before the Blues hit back with two of their own. Late in the quarter some good ball movement and pressure allowed us to kick another two before Sturt rounded out the quarter with a goal and we took a 6 point lead to quarter time.

Sturt started the second quarter on fire and kicked 3 goals in the first 6 minutes and we struggled to get the footy. Some great composure from our captain for the day Freddie Wilson resulted in a steadying goal to Jamie Russell-Swansson, which kick started a run of 6 more as we had our highest scoring quarter for the year to set up a 30 point lead at half time. We finished the match off well and recorded a 25 point win.

We had many good players and Jamie Russell-Swansson continued his great form with a great display of ball winning (25 possessions) and scoring (3 goals) as well as his trademark pressure with 10 tackles. Lachie Sands, Joel Hill and Max Farrrugia also played well in our midfield and Jake Hall was a strong performer on the wing and up forward (2 goals). Jack Mumford also presented and competed well for his 3 goals.

This week we debuted Luke Russel from Wallaroo on the Yorke Peninsula and he did well with some strong marks and 2 goals .

We play Sturt again this Saturday, this time at Home from 1.50pm

Shane Reardon – U18 Coach

UNDER 16s

The Under 16 team had a fantastic victory at Thomas Farms Oval on Saturday against Sturt. We welcomed Jackson Galley, Riley McDermid and Tommy Russell into the team for their first taste of Under 16 SANFL football.

We started well, getting good supply from our midfield who were on top at stoppages, but it took until the 12-minute mark for Eagles small forward Mitch Haley to kick our first goal.  A goal to Will Andrea quickly followed and we snuck out to a handy 11-point lead mid-way through the quarter. Unfortunately, we allowed two late goals to Sturt which meant we were one point down at quarter time.

In the second quarter, our defensive game lifted, and we scored heavily on the counter-attack. Two goals to Cash Meyers late in the quarter, as well as goals to Will Andrea, James Richardson and Noah Atkinson, meant that we took a 16-point lead into the main break. After half-time we continued to play with high intensity, regularly creating goals from turnover and defending with intent. By three-quarter time, we had opened up a 29-point lead.

Momentum see-sawed in the last term, but when Cash Meyers kicked his fourth goal with only 5 minutes remaining, the result was beyond doubt – a 30-point win  to the Eagles.

Led by Will Trengove and Jed Remphrey in the midfield, and Tyson Schultz and Bayden Fenech in defence, it was a terrific team performance by the players, with all players playing their role and contributing to the win. Cash Meyers (4 goals), Will Andrea (3), Will Trengove (2) and James Richardson (2) were the multiple goal scorers.

We would like to extend our congratulations to Tate Sampson who represented South Australia in the U16 State game against Western Australia on Saturday. Well done Tate!

We look forward to playing Sturt again on Saturday this weekend, this time at Maughan Thiem Kia Oval.

Simon Maddern – U16 Coach