Round 12 Underage Reports

After a two-week break bye, Norwood’s U18’s were ready to compete when they pulled on the Redlegs guernsey on Saturday morning. Despite captain Tyson Walls having a week off after his state campaign, our Redlegs were boosted by the return of state players Phoenix Foster (vice-captain) and Harvey Pedler.

Norwood set the tone from the first quarter, kicking five goals three behinds, to the Eagles one goal one behind. Norwood’s unselfish play and ability to take the game on stood out, as we took control of clearances and our entries going inside F50. Our ability to pressure the opposition and take control of the tackle count ensured that nothing came easy for the Eagles.

The Redlegs backed up their excellent start to the game, kicking seven goals in the second quarter, four goals in the 3rd quarter and another five in the final quarter. While we were able to impact the scoreboard consistently throughout the game, our ability to apply pressure on the opposition and value defence was a standout of our game. We held the Eagles to 41 points and were plus 14 tackles for the game.

Josh Bradford was a standout through our midfield, finishing with 29 disposals and 11 clearances. Up forward Phoenix Foster stood out with his aerial presence, taking six marks, and kicking four goals for the game. Foster was supported by fellow tall forward Brayden Rachwal who took five marks and kicked three goals. At ground level Taj Rahui was lively, finishing with 23 disposals, four goals, five tackles, five clearances, and four marks. Catalano, Pratt and Tomney all contributed with two goals while Hyde and Pedler both finished with one goal.

We will look to take confidence from an excellent team performance as we prepare to face North Adelaide this coming weekend. We look forward to the challenge of facing the top-of-the-table side as we continue to build on our strong brand of Norwood football each week.

SCOREBOARD:

NORWOOD: 5.3 12.7 16.11 21.13 (139)

EAGLES: 1.1 3.1 5.4 6.5 (41)

BEST: Bradford, Foster, Hyde, Rahui, Van Wyk, Evans

GOALS: Foster 4, Rahui 4, Rachwal 3, Catalano 2, Mu 2, Pratt 2, Tomney 2, Hyde, Pedler

After two weeks off, we returned to U/16 football. We welcomed the Eagles to The Parade, who have been travelling well and sitting in the four. We have played them already twice this year, once in a trial and in a minor round game in which they touched us up both times.

It was always going to be an interesting week after losing by two points in our last game to how they would respond. We started slowly but managed to wrestle back into the contest halfway through the quarter. We couldn’t question our endeavour and attitude but being ten points at quarter time down we knew we had to work hard to get back in it on the scoreboard.

In the second quarter, I felt we dominated, and the guys started to get some real confidence up and started being dangerous going forward. Errol Wood gave us a real focus up forward. Four goals to one in this quarter gave the guys some much-needed belief.

The third quarter started, and the Eagles threw everything at us, but the boys held up and our backline was outstanding keeping the opposition 2-3 goals away.

Going into the last quarter we wanted to keep attacking, but with a bit more composure. The first 10 minutes they did and were able to enjoy the last part of it and get some much worthwhile reward for so far having a tough year. Well done boys.

Jay Polkinghorne was outstanding in his return from college and state footy with 11 marks and two goals. Errol Wood with 5.5 was a real focus up forward and Riley Kirchhofer down back on their best forward was a couple of arenas that helped us get the win.

SCOREBOARD:

NORWOOD: 2.2 6.5 9.6 13.10 (88)

EAGLES: 4.0 5.2 7.4 7.5 (47)

GOALS: Wood 5, Prescott 3, Polkinghorne 2, Barilla, Johnston, Rozenbilds

BEST: J Polkinghorne, R Kirchhofer, E Wood, L Johnston, J Rozenbilds, N Bowman