Round 8 Match Review, 2023
Senior Men's Match Report
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Old Haileybury 05.09-39
Old Xavier 12.11-83
Round 8 and after some fixturing changes, we headed out to Xavier College on Sunday to face Old Xavs.
As previously stated, our team has had their opportunities to win the last 3 weeks, but some concentration lapses have let us down.
It was a great day for footy with the sun out and a great playing surface so there would be no excuses for our group.
The 1st quarter started with Xavs applying plenty of pressure and putting our backs under severe pressure. Pleasingly we stood up strong and weathered the storm going into the first change trailing by 10 points. We needed to lift our intensity around the ball and apply more pressure on our opposition in the 2nd quarter and we did that at the start. Disappointingly we had a couple of set shots that we failed to convert and Xavs took their opportunities at the other end and went into the Halftime break trailing by 26 points.
The chat in the rooms was about adjusting how we wanted to play and kicking more instead of overusing the ball by handballing too much.
What is a positive about our group is the ability to adjust in game and change the way we need to play, and our ball use improved dramatically.
This allowed us to get the ball into our forwards and give them more chances to hit the scoreboard. Again, we probably did not make the most of these opportunities but at the last change we had reduced the margin to 19 points.
Over the last few weeks, we had struggled to play a full 120 minutes, and this was the case again as the game got away from us a bit at the end as Xavs kicked 6 goals to 2 for the quarter to grab the 4 points with the final margin of 44.
Lessons have come thick and fast for the boys over the season so far and this week was no different as our backs held up well, but it was our ability with ball in hand to hurt our opposition that played a huge part in the result.
The key when things are not going well is to just keep fronting up and working to get better and the wins will come.
Individually Will Paul was again massive competing against an opponent with a height advantage and the ball coming in constantly. Through the middle of the ground Gassy, Corey Rich, Trevo and Will Gown were our better performers on the day. Up forward Duz Seccull was a constant threat in the air along with Harry Jones & Max Walstab.
Next week we take a break before hosting Uni Blues at home for a crucial contest.
See you at the footy.
Go Bloods.
For full pictorial coverage of the Seniors' match against Xavier, go to the Gallery
Men's Reserves Match Report
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Old Xavier 27.18-180
Old Haileybury 02.0-12
Round 8 vs Xavier
The Magoos faced Xavier on a sunny Sunday at the high school. Although the weather was great, the day of the week was less favourable. Thankfully, we managed to gather a team, and I want to give a big shout-out to Stefano Zanelli, Chris Zanelli, Jem Murchie, Louis Howcroft, Harry Angwin, and Ben Simpson for stepping in this week to help us out. With these six players included, the total number of players used by the reserves reached 54, which is quite impressive for this early stage of the season.
In the first quarter, our boys started strong, displaying a dominant performance all over the field. They won all of the contested possessions and Cooper Nolan scored our first goal of the day. After that, scoring remained scarce, but the contest remained tight.
Unfortunately, in the second and third quarters, we couldn't keep up with Xavier's strong team. They outclassed us during that period. Jacob Gown managed to score our second goal of the game in the third quarter.
Despite being undermanned, the boys showed great determination in the last quarter and fought hard. We won the contest in almost every aspect except the scoreboard. It's fair to say that the boys performed well, considering the circumstances.
We welcome the bye this week, as it will allow some of our players to rest and recover. We are looking forward to getting a few more players back after the break. If anyone is interested in joining us for a game, we would love to strengthen our squad, so you are more than welcome to get involved. As always, there were many positive moments, but at this level, we need to put them together consistently for four quarters.
Best Players: Keaton Law, Jesse Laity, Nathan Dowsett, Jordan Johnston, Brad Prior, Max Green
Goal Kickers: Cooper Nolan, Jacob Gown
Women's Match Report
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Old Haileybury 01.01-7
Old Melburnians 04.07-31
The Hearts group ventured to the home of VAFA football, Elsternwick Park, for our round 8 clash against Old Melburnians. Due to us only having 18 available players, the Hampton Rovers kindly provided us with the services of Rachel & Annabel who were both welcomed into the side on 1 week permits.
The early morning drizzle subsided as the game began with our girls keen to get off to a good start. The first quarter was an arm wrestle as both sides looked for ascendancy. The ball was spending a fair bit of time in the opposition forward line and our backs were holding up really well. Old Melburnians managed to kick the only goal for the quarter very late in the term to go into the first break with a slender 7 point lead. Through some great work by Chelsea in the ruck and our midfield, our girls were right on top in the second quarter. Arielle Cathcart and Pulli Gardiyawasam were both giving us plenty on their respective wings and were certainly covering some miles. Eloise McCrae was tackling hard and throwing herself into every contest. Goals were proving very hard to come by and each side only managed a solitary behind for the quarter.
The Hearts rallied once again in the third term and were continuing to be very competitive all over the ground. Hitting the scoreboard was proving to be somewhat difficult and despite the lack of reward for effort in the form of goals, the girls never stopped trying.
The side was shuffled around a bit at ¾ time as we decided it was worth losing the game by a big margin in our attempt at having a shot at grabbing the 4 points. Peta Simpkin was moved into the ruck even though she had been rebounding really well off half back and the Hearts mids won the first clearance. Alana Hall took a strong mark and to the delight of the Hearts group was able to kick our first goal of the day less than 90 seconds into the quarter. We were back to within 10 points and our girls were keen to keep up this momentum. Despite the effort of all players, Old Melburnians managed to run out the game a little more strongly than us and won by 24 points. Once again, our girls gave their all and the overall effort could not be questioned. The bye over the long weekend comes at a great time as many girls with injuries and sore bodies will enjoy a quieter week. We look forward to our next match vs Old Brighton on June 17 which will be our annual spuds game.
Go Hearts!
Under 19's Match Report
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Old Carey 08.13-61
Old Haileybury 11.06-72
Old Haileybury U19’s travelled out to Bulleen on Saturday to take on ladder leader Old Carey and came away with a fantastic win. Our focus all week had been about taking the game on and keeping our “Head in the Game” for the full 100 minutes. The first quarter was a pretty even contest and although we were a goal behind at quarter time, we had had plenty of the ball. Our focus at quarter time was around tidying up our ball handling and that proved the major difference as we piled on 4 goals 2 and kept Old Carey to just 2 points. We came out after half time with the same intensity and outscored the opposition again, going into the final term with a 25-point lead. We new that Old Carey would fight back and that is exactly what they did, staying focussed and concentrating for the full 25 minutes of the last quarter proved to be the difference and we came away with a hard fought 11 point win. Liam Riedel’s last quarter goal with only a couple of minutes left on the clock was the sealer. The lads have been really working hard on the track and that is showing come game days, there is a real belief amongst the group that they can match it with anyone if they play their best football. We have a well-earned week off this week followed by a tough game against Parkside away.
Goal Kickers:
Yates, Whitaker 3
Adams, Dippa, Cowell, Riedel 1
Best Players:
Kennedy, Yates, Adams, Black, Williamson, Tuffley