Round 18 Victory in Wet

    The Cygnet Football Club ventured to Pembroke Park to face the Sorell Eagles and came away with good wins in both the Senior and Reserve matches. After continuous rain overnight, and rain falling on the way to the game, it was pretty obvious it was not going to be a skilful day at the footy. The ground  was in great condition considering the weather and after a quick coffee and a bite to eat it was down to business as ....

....the Reserves took to the field. The Port started well with a good centre clearance but missed a couple of easy opportunities early in front of goal. Sorell made them pay and took the ball forward (with a slight tail-wind) to convert a couple of goals on a day where all opportunities needed to be taken. The Port trailed by 14 points at quarter time.

    After a good wake up spray from their Coach and a couple of key positional changes, the Port looked like they had finally come to play in the second quarter kicking three goals whilst keeping the Eagles to 2 points to reclaim the lead by 4 points at the long break in a tight match. The third term was going to be critical for the Port defending against the breeze and they did this to instruction and also kicked three goals to the Eagles one to hold a 9 point lead going into the final quarter. The first goal was going to be critical to the match and the Port was able to achieve that to earn a bit of breathing space - but the Eagles were still coming. Some great desperation from the Ports forwards and on-ballers, including the back six defenders almost becoming impassable allowed the Port to put on a foward-line press and kick another three goals to hold the Eagles scoreless in the last quarter (and last half) to record a solid 29 point victory.

    Better players for the Port included David Bone (2 goals) who won plenty of the football in the middle of the ground and also played the lose man in defence to assist his back-line to perfection. Young Sam Cook up from the Colt’s was good in his forward pocket early in the match and later when moved to a wing where he showed his recent stint in the seniors was well and truly justified. Captain Timmy Bone worked hard in the wet conditions to get the ball moving forward while Jarrah Allan (2 goals) continued his good form and was great in the forward line and later when he went a kick behind the play. Rohan Gudden and James Shaw played the wet conditions to perfection in the back-line repelling many of the Eagles attacks. Major goal-kickers included Jamie Direen with (3) goals who continues to close in on the competition leaders. A really good even team effort from the boy’s in trying conditions. The Reserves victory had ....

....the Senior side pumped up ready to avenge their disappointing loss to the East Coast Bombers the previous week. However, it was the Sorell side who started the better and made the most of early opportunities to lead the Port by 11 points at the first break. The trend continued early in the second quarter until the Port, who looked like they were trying to play dry weather football on a wet day and were over using the ball, got back in the game to only trail by one goal at the long break.

    Coach Tyrrell stressed the importance of getting the ball forward at all cost, not over-using the ball, and, with a couple of smart positional changes, the Cygnet side started to click into gear by playing good old style crash and bash footy for which the Eagles had no answer. A five goal to one term enabled the Port to hold a handy 3 goal lead at three quarter time. Another five goals in the last quarter whilst holding the Eagles to a solitary point enabled the Port to pull away to record a very good 52 point victory in the conditions.

    Better players included Ben Halton who did a lot of work in the ruck and his second and third efforts really got the Port going in the second half. Cameron Wilcox was great whether in the ruck or just his strength around the ground behind the play. Kane Neilsen dominated across half back and played his best game for the season while Andrew Palmer’s strength around the contests was perfect for the Port given the conditions. Jonathon Tyrrell (4 goals) played his best game for the season and took some great marks and looked dangerous all day when moved to full forward while Mark Alberry also revelled in the conditions to be amongst the Port’s best. Dillon Davie (2 majors) returning from injury again showed his prowess near goal. A good even team effort from the Senior side.

    Congratulations to young Colt’s player Jeremy Hickey who played his first Senior game on saturday. Jeremy has played a number of Reserve matches this season and was impressive in his first game at senior level – well done Jezza! With three Colt’s players involved in the senior win, it shows the Port’s decision to blood young players during the season is paying dividends, regardless that we will not participate in the finals.