Round 11 Wrap-Up: Back to BusinessRound 11 Wrap-Up: Back to Business After a well-deserved break, the second half of the season kicked off with a gritty Sunday afternoon clash against West Adelaide. Our team had spent the week vigorously preparing for a physical battle, and our supporters witnessed an intense match. While our defense has been a strength in the first half of the season, we focused on improving our attacking play in this match. And it showed, as we created numerous scoring opportunities through fluid ball movement. Pleasingly, 11 different players contributed to the scoreboard, highlighting the even distribution of talent across our team. This aspect has been crucial for our success in the first ten games and will continue to be vital as the season progresses. However, we were frustrated by how we conceded a few easy goals late in the game. While we need to address our defensive errors, credit must go to West Adelaide for increasing their intensity and forcing their way back into the contest. The reserves played an earlier match against Norwood, a challenging fixture for both teams. Despite their recent good form, the reserves couldn’t match an unbeaten Norwood side. This game holds valuable lessons for the group as they prepare to face Central Districts this Saturday. Saturday promises to be an exceptional day of football at Stratarama Stadium. Our reserves will start the day, followed by the women’s team in the preliminary final against Norwood. Then, our league team will face the Adelaide Crows in a crucial match for our season. To top it all off, Chris Curran will play his 150th game, a remarkable achievement for an outstanding player and club representative. We encourage a huge crowd to come out and support him and the team on this special day. Go to the bays! – Darren Reeves, Senior Coach Goalkeepers: Allen (4), McBean (2), Holder (2), Bell, Gerloff, Gould, Lovelock, Lyons, McLeod, Reynolds, Stagg Best Players: Scharenberg, Allen, Walker, Holder, McBean, Stretch, Bell
After a well-deserved farewell mid-season, the second half of the season started with a Sunday afternoon match against West Adelaide. We were really pleased with the way our playing group got back into training during the week and prepared vigorously for what we knew would be a physical battle. The supporters present will agree that this was certainly the case.
The first half of the season we felt like our defensive method was the area we were quite happy with and that our growth could come on the attacking side of the game. This is the pleasing aspect of Sunday’s match, with some of our fluid ball movement returning and creating some excellent scoring opportunities throughout the day. As always, this is based on how we can apply pressure and therefore defend. That was again the starting point in this match, with the ability to get the ball in the open creating some exciting passages of play. Equally pleasing was the even contribution across our group, both overall and certainly on the scoreboard with 11 different goalscorers throughout the day. Everyone’s contribution was a strong part of the first ten games of the season, with no real reliance on individuals. This will continue to be important as we get deeper into the season.
There was a bit of frustration with the way we played out the game, conceding a few cheap goals late on. I’m definitely someone who doesn’t say too much right after the game because you generally see it a little differently when you watch it back. That has been the case in this period and while we need to improve on a number of defensive errors in this period, some credit must go to the opposition, who also managed to increase their intensity and work rate. The quarter ended with the same number of scoring shots and unfortunately we couldn’t finish our job for the goals as well as we had during the day up to that point. As always, we remain stuck in our work and try to keep improving ourselves.
Our reserve group played the earlier match against Norwood in Norwood, which isn’t ideal for anyone. The group has had a very solid period of football in recent months and we like what we see in the young group. They couldn’t continue that good form against an unbeaten Norwood side. There could be some really strong lessons to come from this for the group and they will look to bounce back against Central Districts this Saturday.
Saturday is shaping up to be an exciting day with our reserves starting the day, followed by our women’s team against Norwood in the preliminary final, before our League team taking on the Adelaide Crows in another important step in the season. To top it all off, Chris Curran plays his 150e an outstanding achievement for an outstanding player, person and representative of our club. We hope to see a huge crowd here for what should be a great day of football at Stratarama Stadium.
Go to the bays
– Darren Reeves, senior coach
Goalkeepers: Allen (4), McBean (2), Holder (2), Bell, Gerloff, Gould, Lovelock, Lyons, McLeod, Reynolds, Stagg
Best players: Scharenberg, Allen, Walker, Holder, McBean, Stretch, Bell
