Hampton Rovers suffered a frustrating loss on Saturday, having six more scoring shots but going down to Old Camberwell by 14 points at Boss James Reserve.
In the first quarter, the Rovers looked ordinary. Second to the ball and seemed to be always just dwelling on the opposition to take possession and then tackling. Not a way to win and the fleet of foot Camberwell mids managed to get off the leash and open up an 18 point break.
The coach spurred the boys into action at the first break and while they responded, they failed to convert on the scoreboard. The boys kicked 2.7 to Old Camberwell’s 3.1 – an opportunity lost particularly where the Rovers had the vast majority of the play (including six behinds and two out of bounds on the full in a row at one stage) while the opposition went bang, bang, bang for three easy goals in which must have been their only three inside 50s for the term. Big Charlie Thorpe was winning in the ruck and this week the taps were starting to hit the targets.
Leigh Fletcher was enjoying playing further up the ground and his intercept goal on the run from 50m was a treat. The Sandringham boys in Rich Atkins, Nick Pavlou and Nathan Smith were in and under and getting a lot of the ball but couldn’t escape skill errors with their disposal.
The Rovers came out hard after the main break to kick three behinds in a row only to have the opposition to respond with two goals straight. From the six minute mark of the quarter, the visitors didn’t score again. Hampton dominated the play and finally started to put a score on the board.
James Prosser put the first through from the square, the second, a bullet pass from Rich Atkins to Nick Pavlou who kicked truly from 40m, then a great passage of play where Dibba passed to Smithy who handed off to Rich for a goal and finally Pav again off the ground and at the final break, the Rovers were just four points down and on fire. The backs were holding up well with the skipper playing on an unaccustomed back flank, Mat Care on the other and BOG Luke DeVille at the key post. Luke clearly put in his best game for the year, a feature being his coolness under pressure and the marks he seemed to pluck no matter how far out of position he was.
The spirits were high at the break and the coach to all present was correct, “get the first goal and they’ll crumble”. Well, the Rovers got that first goal and hit the lead for the first time in the game but that was it. Old Camberwell kicked the next three and you could tell that the run had gone from the young Rovers’ legs. Yes, the boys battled on, but the three goal gap just couldn’t be bridged in the final 20 minutes of desperate footy. 18 behinds and a number of out on the full’s tells the story of the day, in a game the Rovers threw away.
Luke DeVille was clearly best on for the Rovers. Cam Hetherington, Rich Atkins and Nathan Smith with four goals all played well. Premiership player Mat Care came in for his first senior game since returning from overseas and showed the form of previous years.
The boys now have the week off and the front up against ladder-leaders Caulfield Grammarians at Glenhuntly Oval. The young Rovers side find themselves at three and five and must improve to get a few wins on the board and move up the Premier C ladder.
HAMPTON ROVERS 1.3 3.10 7.15 11.18 (84)
OLD CAMBERWELL 4.3 7.4 9.7 15.8 (98)
Goal Kickers: N. Smith 4, N. Pavlou 3, R. Atkins 2, J. Prosser, L. Fletcher
Best Players: L. Deville, Z. Donald, J. Pavlou, J. Schmitz, M. Care, J. McPherson
It was a great win by the Reserves, defeating Old Camberwell by 14 points in the early game at the Boss. Two wins on the trot and for the first time in a number of years, the boys are playing with their tails up and running over the opposition in those final quarters.
The Rovers were slow out of the blocks and let the opposition into the game in the first quarter. After that, the boys locked down on them, played hard man on man footy and the Old Camberwell boys didn’t like it.
Great to see Thom McCarthy back in the green & gold! Back on the track last week and in a game for the ages, he played a blinder from CHB. He was ably backed up by Luke Morcom who continued his good form of the last few weeks.
Ed Turner, back on the ground and, while short of a run, still popped through three on the bit. Nick Jackson enjoying the freedom of the forward line booted four for the day and let loose in the last quarter marking everything that came his way. Great to see Sammy Bradford back and playing his usual brand of footy, taking on the opposition, sprint, a bounce or two and kicking accurately from 40m. He hasn’t lost it!
With Dave Broadstock and Michael Dynon sharing the rucking duties, the Rovers were on top in the middle yet strangely none of the mids appeared in the best. Lynchy was his usual reliable best down back as with Brendan Culvenor off the flank. With the growing crowd gathering for the last quarter the boys lifted and in a great display ran over the top of the opposition to record a stirring win.
The Under 19 One’s recorded a 163 point win over Fitzroy on Saturday – 49 scoring shots to 6!
Scott Ebbott picked up BOG honours again with another slashing game in the middle. Blake Bergman had a blinder from half back, not only marking everything that came his way but the icing on the cake was his 3 goals. Harry Robertson, down from the seniors probably played his best game for 2017.
A very even performance from the boys, quarters of 5, 7, 6 and 8 goals from 15 goal kickers. Zac Raghdo, the skipper of the U19 Two’s on promotion, continued his good form playing on ball or from half back. Jack Daley was solid in the midfield and Tom Marron mopped up all the loose ball on many occasions. Great to see Benji Audige, in his second game back since dislocating his elbow in a practice match, featuring in the goal kickers on his return. Another set of brothers, the Melnjaks, playing together for the first time in 2017, both performed well with Joel kicking three goals and Dillon kicking two.
The Under 19 Two’s led at the final change but crumbled, scoring just three points after half time, to go down to Williamstown CYMS by 11 points away from home.
It was a crunch game for the side, going into the game the young rovers sitting at 3-4 and playing Williamtown one spot above them on ladder sitting at 4-3. At the start of the day, coach Sam Care urged his players to follow on from the form of recent weeks. Having the bye next week it was an aim to be 4-4 going into the mid-season break.
The Rovers first half was great football, displaying first option, tackling pressure and team football. What had been so important in recent weeks. A highlight from the first half was an Adrian Hug goal from tight on the boundary line. The boys went into the half time break full of confidence and up by two goals.
Unfortunately, the Williamtown side came out in the second half and ran over the young Rovers to claim an 11 point victory. Only kicking three points in the second Half, it was very disappointing because the forward entries were there but they just couldn’t get on the score on the board.
Will Wood was stand in captain due to Zach Raghdo’s promotion up to the 19 One’s. He fought hard all day and lead from the front. Also a best on ground display from second gamer Josh Broadley, he showed great athleticism and fight to win the ball all day.
The Senior Women’s recorded a great win on Sunday against Old Mentonians – read the full report >
