Villi’s U18s & U16s Match Report – Round 14

UNDER 18s

The Under 18s had another close game on Friday night, losing to West Adelaide by 2 points – making it consecutive weeks of close losses.

Early we had good forward 50 territory but we couldn’t score goals and West Adelaide were very efficient with their entries and kicked two late goals and took a 4 point lead into quarter time. Wessties dominated the early part of the second quarter kicking the first 3 goals to make it five in a row and stretched the margin to 24 points before we got one back late in the quarter to reduce the lead to 14 points.

Again the Bloods got the early goal in the third quarter but we then hit back with 2 goals and one after the siren made the deficit just 10 points – a big last quarter loomed.

We started brilliantly and kicked the first 2 goals to take the lead as the rain started tumbling down. An arm wrestle ensued for the next 10 minutes and Westies kicked 2 great goals in the conditions to restore the margin. We refused to lie down and great snap goal from Zane Peucker got us to within 2 points again with 3 minutes to play. Although the ball lived in our Forward 50, a combination of good West Adelaide defence and the conditions made it hard to score and we fell just short.

The game this week,  was played for the Jake Watson Shield, an important event in our year and West Adelaide were deserved winners in what was a tough and intense game of under 18 footy.

Zane Peucker, Max Farrugia, Lachie Sands and Ethan Ashley gave us a lot of drive from the midfield, Noah Ah Chee was good on his wing and Owen Hartley-Brown was  a busy and productive forward along with Jack Mumford.

Congratulations to Jevan Phillipou playing his first game of League footy joining Jack Cook. Also this week Brodie Harris, Jack Slattery, Elliot Stubing and James Chalubek played their first games at Development Grade level and all contributed.

It is obviously a testing time for the Club with injuries at the moment and I know everyone across the Club is working hard to ensure we get the best results we can – your support for our club and our people is highly valued.

Finally, how good for Narelle and her girls to be Grand Final bound – a character filled win on Sunday and we wish them all the best.

Shane Reardon – U18 Coach

UNDER 16s

The Eagles Under 16 team lost a tough encounter against West Adelaide on Friday night at Hisense Stadium.

It was pleasing to see Jye Linke make his debut for the Woodville West Torrens team and Jack Smans return from a long-term wrist injury.

In wet and slippery conditions, it was West Adelaide who hit the scoreboard first, kicking two goals in the first seven minutes, before Eagle wingman Lucien Kravinskis goaled from an intercept mark.  In a scrappy second quarter, West Adelaide scored an early goal to stretch the lead to 21 points; but as the quarter went on, we worked our way back into the contest.  Ruckman Noah Atkinson had an impact around the ground and was supported by hard-working midfielders Tyson Schultz and Will Trengove.  A goal from key forward Harry Scholes and a second goal from Kravinskis had us within two goals at the half-time break.

Jack Musci snapped truly in the first minute of the third quarter, and with Bayden Fenech and Hudson Walsh marking strongly in defence, we had some belief.  Two goals each for the quarter meant that West Adelaide maintained a 16-point buffer going into the last quarter.  The Eagles boys continued to stay in the game, with goals to Mitchell Haley and Harry Scholes mid-way through the final term, but in the end, West Adelaide were too strong, kicking three late goals and running out victors by 29 points.

The best players on the night were Fenech, Schultz, Kravinskis, Walsh, Atkinson and Trengove and the multiple goal-kickers were Scholes and Kravinskis, both with 2 goals each.

We look forward to the next challenge as we play Norwood at Maughan Thiem Kia Oval this Saturday, starting at 1:30 pm.

We wish Tate Sampson all the best as he represents South Australia in the Under 16 National Championships this week, playing against Victoria Country (Tuesday) and Victoria Metro (Friday) on the Gold Coast.

Simon Maddern – U16 Coach