Round 2 Match Review, 2023
Senior Men's Match Report
Brought to you by Chicken Lads
Old Haileybury 04.06-30
Old Brighton 12.16-88
Round 2 and we headed out to South Rd to take on Old Brighton.
The first 15 minutes summed up the whole game for us on the day.
Our oppositions level of intensity was way above ours and they quickly shot out to a 5 goal to nothing start.
The rest of the game was quite even, and our backline held up well under constant pressure.
In a disappointing result Old Brighton ran out convincing winners by 58 points.
Unlike the previous week it was hard to find a best player whose effort was there for the whole day but that would have been Jack Munro who did what he could to get our game going.
The good thing about Football is that we have another week coming up where we can redeem ourselves and get back to playing the right way.
We take on Uni Blacks at Melbourne University this Saturday and look forward to putting in a better display.
Go Bloods!
Men's Reserves Match Report
Brought to you by The Marine Hotel
Old Brighton 12.16-88
Old Haileybury 4.4-28
Round 2 – vs Brighton
A windless day at BBO was warmly welcomed in our Round 2 clash against Brighton Grammar. We welcomed Davis Green and Harry Grenda for their first game of the year. The first quarter saw a tight fight with scores level at the first break. Jack Grenda was back to his usual best, being a wall in our backline.
The second quarter was once again a good contest, but two late free kicks saw Brighton kick away going into halftime. The heat and pace of the game were starting to get to the boys, with lapses in skills and decision-making costing us at crucial times.
In the third quarter, Brighton's fitness and structures began to take hold of the game, but our back six held on well and we remained competitive. Despite not showing on the scoreboard, we probably won the last quarter. We began to move the ball how we wanted, creating opportunities up the ground that we were unable to capitalize on. Anyone watching could see positive signs among the boys, and we're building towards a win.
It was great to see the Reserves side hang around and watch the Senior side, with Seve Stefanakis and Brad Prior helping with water, which is great for the club.
This coming week, we head out to Melbourne University Oval to take on Premier B rivals University Blacks. The boys are starting to click with one another, fitness levels are improving, and people are returning from injury, so hopefully, this all culminates in a win this weekend.
Best Players: Jack Grenda, Keaton Law, Davis Green, Finn Laity, Liam Wood, and Daniel Hille
Goals: Jacob Gown, Keaton Law, Castan Racunica, and Jesse Laity
Women's Match Report
Brought to you by Bedshed Dandenong
Round 1 vs Old Brighton
Old Haileybury 02.05-17
Old Brighton 08.07-55
The Hearts ventured to Brighton Beach oval for a twilight match against Old Brighton who had moved from Premier to Division 1. This game was our annual Frawley-Grant game which is a very important and special game for our group which is played against Brighton each year. We welcomed 4 debutantes into the side this week, Nicky Nowlan, Jess Gibson along with Ruby & Poppy Murdoch ( in year 12 & 11 at Haileybury this year ). There was a healthy crowd in attendance following the conclusion of the men’s game which was played prior to ours which set up a good atmosphere as the teams completed their final warm-ups. With our captain, Junior, still unavailable through injury, Bella stepped up as captain for the day.
Brighton had certainly come to play and from the first bounce they attacked the contest with full force. They were winning clearances, working together and sending the ball into their forward line to put our backs under enormous pressure. Brighton were also building a wall across their half forward line which provided them with repeat entries. They were soon hitting the scoreboard which added to the pressure our girls were under. Unfortunately, due to undisciplined acts by some of the Hearts girls, Brighton were twice awarded free kicks inside 50 after kicking goals due to our players talking back to the umpires. This gifted them 2 additional goals for the quarter and led to a quarter time score of 6.4.40 to 0.1.1.
The Hearts coaches were keen to address our structures and set ups at the first break and the group were firmly reminded that talking back to umpires under any circumstances won’t be tolerated. Our girls were keen to re-group and start again and look to work our way into the game. A few positional changes were made and the Hearts girls were determined to remedy the situation and stop the dominance of Brighton. The contest was far more even in the second quarter even though our girls were constantly under pressure. Once again, Brighton were having repeat entries into their forward line and putting large amounts of pressure onto our back 6. If it wasn’t for the efforts of all of our backline, led by Hoy & Peta who were holding up really well, the goals would have kept flowing for Brighton. The effort of the Hearts girls had lifted and they had worked their way back into the contest really well. The performance of Ruby Murdoch was a clear highlight of the first half as she was lighting up the far wing with her run and carry and aggressive game style. Brighton only managed 1 goal for the quarter to go into the main break with a commanding 45 point lead.
Our group were instructed at half time to go back to playing 1/1 all over the ground and a team goal was set to win the quarter. It was evident early in the third quarter that this was working and our girls had found their groove. Chels continued to win the ruck taps and our mids led by Tay, Eloise and Poppy started to get some ascendancy around the contest. We were having repeat forward 50 entries and our forwards began to get a good look at the footy. Goals were kicked by Bridie and Eloise and we could have easily had a few more with a number of close misses. We held Brighton to only 1 goal for the term and won the quarter by 9 points.
Three quarter time and down by 36 points, our girls were keen to finish off the game strongly. We stuck with playing 1/1 fall over the ground which was clearly the best way to keep the Brighton group accountable. Once again in the last quarter our group were working a lot better together and supporting each other. Our backline was under attack but were holding up with our wings and mids assisting. No goals were kicked by either team in the last and the final result was Brighton winning the game by a commanding 38 points.
This game will serve as a really good learning experience for the Hearts. To be down by 39 points at quarter time but to match Brighton over the next 3 quarters highlights the fight in our group. There is no doubt that Old Brighton will be one of the benchmark teams in Division 1 this year and we eagerly look forward to the challenge when we play them next.
Peter Grant spoke really well to both teams out on the ground after the match and you could see the warm feeling that exists between both clubs. Peter spoke fondly of Danny Frawley and the contribution he made to women’s football. The cup was presented to the captains of Brighton and Ruby Murdoch was presented with a medal as the best player for the Hearts. A great performance by a year 12 girl playing her first ever game of senior football. We look forward to bouncing back against Old Camberwell next week.
Go Hearts !
Under 19's Match Report
Brought to you by Sharp and Carter
Old Haileybury 5.08-38
Xavier 22.08-140
U/19 Match Report
OHAFC vs Xavier
The U/19’s travelled over to Kew on the weekend and came up against another strong team in Xavier. We started well having the first three shots at goal only to come up empty handed with just the one point. Unfortunately, as we did last week, we went to sleep for about 15 minutes of the first quarter and allowed Xavier to pile on 9 goals to 1. After quarter time, the match was a relatively even contest and we even won the 3rd quarter. We suffered some injuries early in the last quarter that left us with no-one on the bench and that enabled Xavier to kick 3 or 4 goals late in the match.
The lads are still learning the caper but need to realise that football is a tough game both physically and mentally and if you lose concentration for periods of the game then the opposition will take advantage of it. We have seen that over the first two weeks with us conceding 10 and then 9 goals in a quarter.
We will continue to work on getting better defensively and I think we will see a much-improved performance from the guys this coming week against Beaumaris.
For anyone looking for their fix of OH footy on Saturday and can’t get out to the Uni, the U19’s are playing Beaumaris at Banksia Reserve Beaumaris at 2pm.
Goal Kickers: Yates 2, Whitaker, Abraham, Hardeman 1
Best Players: Black, Yates, Connell, Gillon, Lynch, Hardeman